# Cross (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cross/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a stone cross on a road.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 77,557 |
| US rank (2010) | 420 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,981 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (75,134 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /kɹɔs/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from the noun cross, as in crossroads. Also a calque of this word in various European languages, such as French Lacroix, German Kreutz, Serbo-Croatian Križ. Compare Crouch, Crozier, Kriz. * As an Irish surname, shortened from McCrossen. * As a German surname, Americanized from Kross, from Middle Low German krus (“pitcher, vessel”), which is possibly an old Germanic borrowing of Ancient Greek κρωσσός (krōssós, “pitcher, pail, urn”). Also a variant of Kress.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cross in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cross in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Cross

- Marcia Cross, American actress
- David Cross, American stand-up comedian and actor (born 1964)
- Ben Cross, British actor (1947-2020)
- Christopher Cross, American singer-songwriter (born 1951)
- Joseph Cross, American actor (born 1986)
- Tom Cross, American film editor
- Art Cross, American racing driver
- Jessie Cross, athletics competitor (1909–1986)
- Kyra Cooney-Cross, Australian soccer player
- Harley Cross, American actor
- Donna Woolfolk Cross, American novelist
- Charles R. Cross, American journalist (1957–2024)

and 5 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Crouse, Cress, Criss, Crass, Crose, Crooks, Croskey, Cerros, Cruz, Craig, Church, Carrasco.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.