2010
#152,628
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Gruter
A toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "from the gravelly area".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Gruter. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gruter surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Gruter in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gruter, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Black (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gruter
The surname Gruter originated in Germany, with the earliest known records dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle High German word "gruter," which referred to a person who worked as a miller or operated a mill. The name is closely related to similar surnames such as Gruder, Grueter, and Grütter, which share the same occupational origin.
In the Middle Ages, mills played a crucial role in the local economy, and millers were regarded as important members of the community. The Gruter surname was likely first adopted by individuals or families involved in the milling trade, either as mill owners or operators.
One of the earliest documented references to the Gruter surname can be found in the Codex Traditionum Westfaliarum, a collection of medieval charters and records from the region of Westphalia, Germany. The surname appears in an entry dated 1187, mentioning a certain "Hartmannus Gruter" as a witness to a land transaction.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Gruter name began to spread across various regions of Germany, including Saxony, Thuringia, and Bavaria. Notable individuals bearing this surname during this period include Johannes Gruter (c. 1285-1350), a scholar and theologian who served as a professor at the University of Erfurt, and Konrad Gruter (c. 1320-1392), a prominent merchant and member of the city council in Nuremberg.
In the 16th century, the Gruter surname gained further prominence with the birth of Janus Gruter (1560-1627), a renowned Dutch philologist, and scholar of classical literature. He was born in Antwerp but spent most of his life in Germany and the Netherlands, where he collected and published numerous works of ancient Greek and Roman authors.
Another notable figure was Johann Rudolf Gruter (1647-1727), a Swiss jurist and historian who served as a professor of law at the University of Basel. He authored several important works on Swiss history and legal matters, including his influential treatise "De incerti auctoris vetere jurisconsulto" (1680).
In the 18th century, Johann Gruter (1723-1803) was a German Lutheran theologian and author who served as a professor of theology at the University of Halle. His most notable work was a comprehensive commentary on the Book of Revelation, published in 1790.
Throughout the centuries, the Gruter surname has also been associated with various place names and geographical locations in Germany, such as Grutern, a village in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Grüters, a district in the city of Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gruter
Among Census respondents with the surname Gruter, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Black (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Gruter bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gruter surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 6
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gruter
Gruter appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-5 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 2,127 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #152,628 | 107 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -5 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 2,127 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gruter surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #152,628 | #154,755 | -1.4% |
| Count | 107 | 102 | -4.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gruter bearers went from 107 to 102 (-4.7% change). The surname moved down 2,127 positions in the national ranking, going from #152,628 to #154,755.
FAQ
Gruter surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gruter?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Gruter. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Gruter?
Gruter ranks #154,755 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 102 people with the surname Gruter. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Gruter.
Has Gruter become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gruter went from 107 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #152,628 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Gruter?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gruter, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Black (1.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gruter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (94 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gruter appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (5.9%), Black (1.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gruter (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gruter mean?
A toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "from the gravelly area". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gruter (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Gruter?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Gruter at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.