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

Hargreaves, 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 Hargreaves surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hargreaves in America

Hargreaves is the 13545th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hargreaves surname appeared 2,238 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Hargreaves.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hargreaves 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 Hargreaves

The surname Hargreaves is of English origin, deriving from the name of a place in Lancashire, England. The name is believed to have evolved from the Old English words "hara" meaning hare and "grava" meaning grove, essentially meaning a grove frequented by hares.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname appears in the 13th century, with a Robert de Hargreve mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Lancashire in 1246. Other early spellings include Hargrave, Hargrev, and Hargrayve, reflecting the varied pronunciation and recording methods of the era.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, the area now known as Hargreaves is referred to as "Hargrave," lending further credence to the theory of the name's origins. The village of Hargreaves itself is located near the town of Burnley in Lancashire, and it is likely that many early bearers of the surname hailed from this region.

One notable individual with the surname was Sir James Hargreaves, born in 1655, who served as a Member of Parliament for Liverpool in the late 17th century. Another was James Hargreaves, a weaver and inventor born in 1720, who is credited with developing the spinning jenny, a key innovation in the early Industrial Revolution.

In the literary realm, the name is associated with Alice Hargreaves, born in 1857, who was the inspiration for the character of Alice in Lewis Carroll's beloved novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a close friend of the Hargreaves family.

Other notable individuals with the surname include Sir William Hargreaves, a British chemist and industrialist born in 1870, and Gordon Hargreaves, a British film director and producer born in 1924 who worked on several acclaimed films in the 1960s and 1970s.

Throughout its history, the surname Hargreaves has maintained a strong connection to its Lancashire roots, with many bearers of the name originating from or residing in that region of northern England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hargreaves

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

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 Hargreaves 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 Hargreaves 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 Hargreaves was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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