How common is the surname Greek?

1,533 people in the United States had the surname Greek in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 201,400 Americans. It ranked 18,156th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Greek?

Sable, American professional wrestler, model and actor.

Where is the surname Greek most common?

Wikidata records people named Greek in the United States.

How do you pronounce Greek?

Greek is /ɡɹiːk/, one syllable.

Is the surname Greek getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,621 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,533 in 2010, down 5.4%.

The surname Greek

A surname, carried by 1,533 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ɡɹiːk/ 1 syllable Soundex G620

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Greek is more common than 88.8% of them.

Origin

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,533 people named Greek in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 201,400 Americans. That is down 5.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,621.

#18,156

rank among US surnames

1,533

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

-5.4%

change since 2000 (was #16,360)

Who is named Greek

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

88% of people named Greek identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.1%
Two or more races 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Greeks

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Sable
American professional wrestler, model and actor, born 1967

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Greeke

Surnames that sound like Greek

Greek has the Soundex code G620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G620.

Questions

Where does the surname Greek come from?: Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós),…
How common is the surname Greek?: 1,533 people in the United States had the surname Greek in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 201,400 Americans. It ranked 18,156th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Greek?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Greek identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Greek?: Sable, American professional wrestler, model and actor.
Where is the surname Greek most common?: Wikidata records people named Greek in the United States.
How do you pronounce Greek?: Greek is /ɡɹiːk/, one syllable.
Is the surname Greek getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,621 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,533 in 2010, down 5.4%.
What are other spellings of Greek?: Greeke.