2000
#9,276
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,230
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.20
Rare Last name
Hargraves
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived near a grove of hares or rabbits.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,483 Americans carry the last name Hargraves. That puts it at #10,114 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.02 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 98,408 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hargraves 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Hargraves with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.5K
1 in 98,408
Census rank
#10,114
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,037 bearers of the surname Hargraves in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.02 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10114th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargraves, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hargraves
The surname Hargraves originated in England and dates back to the 12th century. It is a locational surname derived from the Old English words "hara" meaning hare and "grav" meaning grove, referring to a small wooded area inhabited by hares. The name likely originated from a place called Hargraves or Hargrave.
One of the earliest known records of the name Hargraves appears in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1166, where it is spelled as "de Haragrave." The Pipe Rolls were a series of administrative records maintained by the English Exchequer in the 12th and 13th centuries.
In the 13th century, the name Hargraves was also recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, where it was spelled "Hargrave." The Hundred Rolls were a series of administrative records compiled in 1274-1275 during the reign of King Edward I.
The Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings in England compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror, does not mention the name Hargraves or any of its variations. This suggests that the name likely emerged after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Hargraves was Sir John Hargraves, a member of the English gentry who lived in the late 14th century. He was a landowner in the county of Lancashire.
Another prominent figure was Richard Hargraves, a 16th-century English merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers in London. He lived from approximately 1520 to 1588.
In the 17th century, Thomas Hargraves (1610-1673) was a renowned English mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the development of mathematical instruments and wrote several influential works on mathematics and astronomy.
During the 18th century, James Hargraves (1720-1778) was an English inventor and weaver who played a crucial role in the Industrial Revolution. He is credited with inventing the spinning jenny, a multi-spindle spinning frame that revolutionized the textile industry.
In the 19th century, Edward Hargraves (1816-1891) was an Australian explorer and goldminer. He is credited with being one of the first to discover significant gold deposits in New South Wales, Australia, which sparked the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hargraves
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargraves, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Hargraves 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 Hargraves surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.1% · 2,130
- Black or African American20.6% · 626
- Two or more races4.6% · 139
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 115
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hargraves
Hargraves appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,751
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,324
+94 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 1.13
Rank movement Down 475 places
2020
#10,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,037
-287 bearers (-8.6%)
Per 100,000 1.02
Rank movement Down 363 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,276 | 3,230 | 1.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,751 | 3,324 | 1.13 | +94 bearers (+2.9%) | Down 475 places |
| 2020 | #10,114 | 3,037 | 1.02 | -287 bearers (-8.6%) | Down 363 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 Hargraves 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 | #9,751 | #10,114 | -3.7% |
| Count | 3,324 | 3,037 | -8.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.13 | 1.02 | -10.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hargraves bearers went from 3,324 to 3,037 (-8.6% change). The surname moved down 363 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,751 to #10,114.
FAQ
Hargraves surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hargraves?
Name Census estimates that about 3,483 living Americans carry the surname Hargraves. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 98,408 residents.
How common is Hargraves?
Hargraves ranks #10,114 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.02 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,037 people with the surname Hargraves. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,483), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.02 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.02 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Hargraves.
Has Hargraves become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hargraves went from 3,324 recorded bearers to 3,037. That is a decrease of 287 (-8.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,751 to #10,114.
What does the Census say about the background of Hargraves?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargraves, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Hargraves in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (2,130 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hargraves appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (70.1%), Black (20.6%), Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Hargraves (2000, 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 Hargraves mean?
An English occupational surname referring to someone who lived near a grove of hares or rabbits. 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 Hargraves (1.02 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 common is the surname Hargraves?
See how many people are called Hargraves on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.