Graham
Masculine
Graham is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 61,436 boys against 235 girls since 1880.
Graham began as a place in Lincolnshire, traveled north into Scotland as a family name in the twelfth century, and only much later came round to the front of the name — a surname that learned to be a first name. In American mouths it settles into two easy syllables, GRAY-um, with almost nothing to trip over. It has been carried by a novelist, a comedian and a talk-show host, all of them British, which is part of how it still sounds slightly of that island.
How old is the name Graham?
Graham first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Graham is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 56,500 people named Graham are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Graham most popular?
Graham peaked in 2025, reaching #120 nationally. Today it ranks #120, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Grantham to Graham
The story of Graham
The village of Grantham appears in the Domesday Book, and from it came a family name. In the twelfth century a man recorded as William de Graham received lands in Scotland, and the name took root there, becoming one of the Border families and eventually a clan. For centuries it stayed a surname; the nineteenth-century habit of moving mothers' maiden names into first position is what set Graham loose as a given name, first in Scotland and England, then across the Atlantic. Its best-known bearers — a novelist, a Monty Python founder, a talk-show host — all belong to the twentieth century, which is roughly when it became ordinary to meet a boy called Graham rather than a Mr Graham.
Meaningscholars disagree
from Grantham: either 'gravelly homestead' or 'Granta's homestead'
Everyone agrees the name comes from Grantham in Lincolnshire, recorded in the Domesday survey. The first element is what is argued over: Old English 'grand', gravel, giving 'gravelly homestead', or an Old English personal name Granta attached to 'ham', homestead or village. The second half, 'ham', is not in doubt.
Cultural footprint
Graham Greene (b. 1904) — Novelist of The Quiet American
Graham Norton (b. 1963) — Britain's beloved talk-show host
Graham Chapman (b. 1941) — Monty Python founding member
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Grantham
- de Graham
- Graham
- Graeme
Related forms: Graeme · Grahame · Greum
Pronouncing Graham
GRAY-um
Two syllables in American usage. Many British and Scottish speakers compress it to something closer to one — GRAHM — so a child may hear both versions from different relatives.
Nicknames for Graham
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 20252,967 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #120reached in 2025
- Change vs 2022
- +23.6%2,967 in 2025, from 2,401
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Graham in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Graeme in Scottish English — spelling variant
- Grahame in English — spelling variant
- Greum in Scottish Gaelic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, California.
Grahams among us
people named Graham are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 576 born in 2025 was named Graham
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Andre test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Graham's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Andre climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Andre's path sketches the road Graham is walking now.
Graham is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Graham is headed
Graham should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Graham beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Graham in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One spelling that Americans read correctly on sight, and it survives being said quickly or over the phone.
- Established short forms already in circulation: Gray, Gram, Grae — none of them invented on the spot.
- Still a surname as well as a first name, so it sits easily beside almost any last name.
- A documented line running from a Domesday-era village through a Scottish clan to the present day.
- Recognized in Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and the US without changing shape.
- In the US, 'graham' is also a cracker and a flour, named for the nineteenth-century dietary reformer Sylvester Graham. Most people never make the connection out loud, but a school-age classmate might.
- Graeme and Grahame are both real spellings, so expect an occasional 'which one?' — and the two-syllable American reading versus the clipped British one means the name is said two ways in the wild.
- The name is climbing rather than settling, so the boys born alongside your son will meet more Grahams than his father's generation did.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Graham
Masculine · #120 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Grahams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 56,500 people named Graham are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Graham in 2025?
- Graham ranks #120 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,967 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Graham?
- About 1 in every 576 US boys born in 2025 was named Graham — 2,967 in all.
- Will my child share the name Graham with classmates?
- Graham will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Graham
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Milo#119 · Emmett#121 · Callum#118 · Sawyer#122 · Giovanni#123 · Lorenzo#117 · Carson#124 · Harrison#116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Graham? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Graham and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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