Find out how popular the last name Gross is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Gross.

Gross, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Gross surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gross in America

Gross is the 440th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gross surname appeared 74,503 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 25 people would have the surname Gross.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gross to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Gross

The surname Gross has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages. Derived from the German word 'gross', meaning 'large' or 'great', the name was likely originally a nickname or descriptive name given to someone of considerable stature or size.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gross can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century. Here, a certain Rudiger Gross is mentioned as a resident of the town of Nuremberg in 1274.

The name Gross also appears in various medieval records and manuscripts from across German-speaking regions. For example, in the Annales Xantenses, a chronicle from the 14th century, a knight named Konrad Gross is mentioned as participating in a battle near the town of Xanten in 1348.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Gross became increasingly common throughout Germany and neighboring areas. Notable individuals with the name during this period include the theologian and reformer Johannes Gross (1504-1584), who played a key role in the Protestant Reformation.

As German immigrants began to settle in other parts of Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, the surname Gross spread to new regions. One prominent figure from this time was the German-American businessman and philanthropist Jacob Gross (1765-1839), who founded the city of Grossdale, Pennsylvania.

Other notable individuals with the surname Gross throughout history include the French painter René Gross (1910-1984), known for his landscapes and still-life paintings, and the British philosopher and logician Herbert Gross (1893-1979), who made significant contributions to the field of analytic philosophy.

More recently, the surname Gross has been carried by individuals such as the American writer and academic David Gross (born 1941), who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, and the German-American film director Katharina Gross (born 1965), whose work often explores themes of identity and cultural heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gross

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Gross.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Gross was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Gross has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Gross was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Gross, please contact us.

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