Graham

What Graham means

Means “gravel + homestead”

The surname derives from Gra(nt)ham, the name of a place in Lincolnshire, from Old English *grand (“gravel”) + hām (“homestead”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Graham” (revision 92747157), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Graham?

US: Rising: up from #176 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #2319 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 2,967 boys got the name (#120 that year). First in the US records in 1881.

How common

• About 1 in 576 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 38,848 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (6.33 per 1,000 boys), ND (6.26 per 1,000 boys), SD (6.25 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Graham is #120 in the US and #2952 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.6% of US babies named Graham were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Graeme
• Grahame

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Graham

Boys

• Dean#125“valley”^*
• Emmett#121Diminutive of Emma, meaning “entire”^*
• Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US
• Oakley#454“oak + woodland clearing, glade”^*
• Remington#307“settlement by the boundary stream”^*
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*

For a sister

• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*
• Collins#241“descendant of Coileán”^*
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*
• Scarlett#32Editor’s note Down from #22 in 2015 to #32 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Graham’s. Rank is US 2025.