2000
#13,052
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,152
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.80
Rare Last name
Hargreaves
From the Old English "hār" and "grǣfe," referring to someone who lived near a grey or boundary grove.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,530 Americans carry the last name Hargreaves. That puts it at #13,254 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.74 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 135,476 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hargreaves 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 Hargreaves with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 135,476
Census rank
#13,254
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,206 bearers of the surname Hargreaves in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.74 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13254th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargreaves, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hargreaves
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargreaves, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Hargreaves 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 Hargreaves surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 1,995
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 78
- Two or more races3.2% · 71
- Black or African American1.7% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hargreaves
Hargreaves 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
#13,545
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,238
+86 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 493 places
2020
#13,254
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,206
-32 bearers (-1.4%)
Per 100,000 0.74
Rank movement Up 291 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,052 | 2,152 | 0.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,545 | 2,238 | 0.76 | +86 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 493 places |
| 2020 | #13,254 | 2,206 | 0.74 | -32 bearers (-1.4%) | Up 291 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 Hargreaves 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 | #13,545 | #13,254 | 2.1% |
| Count | 2,238 | 2,206 | -1.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 0.74 | -2.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hargreaves bearers went from 2,238 to 2,206 (-1.4% change). The surname moved up 291 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,545 to #13,254.
FAQ
Hargreaves surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hargreaves?
Name Census estimates that about 2,530 living Americans carry the surname Hargreaves. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 135,476 residents.
How common is Hargreaves?
Hargreaves ranks #13,254 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.74 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 2,206 people with the surname Hargreaves. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,530), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.74 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.74 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 Hargreaves.
Has Hargreaves become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hargreaves went from 2,238 recorded bearers to 2,206. That is a decrease of 32 (-1.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,545 to #13,254.
What does the Census say about the background of Hargreaves?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hargreaves, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Hargreaves in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (1,995 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hargreaves appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Hargreaves (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 Hargreaves mean?
From the Old English "hār" and "grǣfe," referring to someone who lived near a grey or boundary grove. 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 Hargreaves (0.74 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 surname Hargreaves?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.