boy's name
Grant
GRANT
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 145,808
the United States
#228
2025 births
Grant means tall or large, from a Norman French nickname — and it has nothing to do with granting or giving, which is a different word that arrived in English by a separate route. It ranks 228th in the United States.
- Grant is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 1997, when 3,315 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,132 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Grant over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 459 |
| 1890s | 614 |
| 1900s | 640 |
| 1910s | 2,718 |
| 1920s | 3,631 |
| 1930s | 2,749 |
| 1940s | 3,966 |
| 1950s | 5,733 |
| 1960s | 6,805 |
| 1970s | 7,242 |
| 1980s | 14,603 |
| 1990s | 25,486 |
| 2000s | 28,453 |
| 2010s | 23,783 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 9,787 |
What Grant means
Grant means tall, or large. The Norman French grand was a descriptive nickname for a big man, applied to distinguish him from a smaller relative of the same name.
Where Grant comes from
Grant is a Norman French byname from grand, large or tall, used to mark the bigger of two men sharing a name — the medieval equivalent of senior, and the source of the Scottish Clan Grant, who took it north in the twelfth century. The verb to grant is a false friend: it comes from the Old French granter, a variant of creanter, to promise, from the Latin credere, to believe. Ulysses S. Grant made it an American given name after the Civil War, and it belongs with Lee and Sherman among surnames that entered first-name use from that conflict.
Grant in use
Grant peaked in the United States in 1997, when 3,315 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It ranks 228th in the United States on 1,555 births — the second-highest position in this group — and 580th in Scotland on 5, across 145,808 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. Scotland is where the clan is from, and it ranks the name well below America.
How popular is Grant?
In 2025, Grant was given to 1,555 babies in the United States, ranking #228 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Grant is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Grant
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Grant also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Grant over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Grant in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Grantley
Sibling names for Grant
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Grant — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Grant
What does the name Grant mean?
Tall or large — the Norman French grand, a nickname for a big man.
Is Grant related to granting something?
No. The verb comes from the Old French granter, to promise, and reached English by a separate route.
Is Grant a Scottish name?
Clan Grant took the Norman byname north in the twelfth century, so the clan is Scottish and the word is French.
How popular is Grant?
228th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Grant a girl's or a boy's name?
Grant is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Grant?
Grant has 1 syllable.
Is Grant a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Grant currently ranks #228 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.