FastNamesGrace
Latin and English name meaning "Virtue name derived from Latin gratia ('favor', 'kindness', 'pleasing quality', or 'divine grace'), from gratus ('pleasing', 'agreeable').". Ranked 38th for girls in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Grace
Virtue name derived from Latin gratia ('favor', 'kindness', 'pleasing quality', or 'divine grace'), from gratus ('pleasing', 'agreeable').
Linguistically, Grace is classified under Latin and English naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "GRAYSS".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Grace has been given to a total of 534,935 girls. It has also been given to 1,405 boys.
Peak year: Grace reached its highest relative share among girls in 1890, when 2,278 babies received the name (11,966 per million births).
All-time best rank: 13th place, first achieved in 1883.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 38th with 5,127 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 19th (down 19 spots).
Busiest decade: More girls were named Grace in the 2000s than in any other decade (110,720 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 15,227 |
| 1890s | 23,804 |
| 1900s | 26,927 |
| 1910s | 57,973 |
| 1920s | 60,060 |
| 1930s | 31,357 |
| 1940s | 19,370 |
| 1950s | 15,929 |
| 1960s | 11,213 |
| 1970s | 6,096 |
| 1980s | 11,796 |
| 1990s | 39,872 |
| 2000s | 110,720 |
| 2010s | 73,058 |
| 2020s | 31,533 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Grace is most common in the US
Accounting for when Grace was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Alaska: 1.8 times the national rate (909 births since 1910).
- Hawaii: 1.8 times the national rate (2,111 births since 1910).
- Delaware: 1.6 times the national rate (1,398 births since 1910).
- Vermont: 1.5 times the national rate (1,122 births since 1910).
- Rhode Island: 1.4 times the national rate (2,279 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Grace?
About 313,000 living American girls and women share the name Grace. Additionally, an estimated 560 living American boys and men share the name.
The median age of an American named Grace is 22 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Grace
Grace entered the English personal naming lexicon from the Anglo-Norman word grace, derived from classical Latin gratia ('favor', 'charm', 'kindness', or 'goodwill'). In Christian theology, grace denotes unmerited divine favor and sanctifying spiritual assistance bestowed by God, establishing it as one of the central concepts of salvation and piety.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, English Puritans adopted Grace along with Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence as 'virtue names' intended to inspire moral character and Christian contemplation. The name traveled aboard the Mayflower and established deep roots across colonial Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia.
In United States demographic history, Grace was a dominant nineteenth-century favorite, ranking consistently within the national top thirty from 1880 through 1910. After a mid-century lull, Grace enjoyed an extraordinary turn-of-the-century renaissance, re-entering the national top twenty in 2003 and remaining a top-thirty favorite for over two decades with over 8,000 newborn girls per year.
Notable people named Grace
- Grace Kelly (1929–1982), American Academy Award-winning actress and Princess of Monaco
- Grace Hopper (1906–1992), American computer scientist and US Navy rear admiral
- Grace Jones (1948–), Jamaican-American singer, model, and actress
- Grace Slick (1939–), American singer-songwriter and psychedelic rock pioneer
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 115.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 138.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.