# Gross (surname)

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

A surname from Middle English, originally a nickname for a big man, from Middle English gros (“large”).

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 74,503 |
| US rank (2010) | 440 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,144 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.3% (74,285 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ɡɹoʊs/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As a Jewish and German surname, from groß (“great, large”). The Jewish surname was influenced by Hebrew גדול (“big, large”), hence the Hebraicization Gadol. * As an English surname, from the noun and adjective gross, a doublet of above. The village is named after Ben Gross, who kept a general store there.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Gross 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) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 10% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Gross in the United States, Austria, Austria–Hungary, Polish People's Republic, Canada and Argentina.

## People named Gross

- David Gross, American particle physicist and string theorist
- Michael Gross, American actor
- Otto Gross, Austrian psychoanalyst (1877-1920)
- Hans Gross, Austrian jurist (1847-1915)
- Jan T. Gross, American historian and sociologist
- Arye Gross, American actor
- Bill H. Gross, American finance and investment writer
- Terry Gross, American journalist; host and producer of "Fresh Air" a Peabody Award-winning radio progra
- Lance Gross, American actor
- Bob Gross, American basketball player (born 1953)
- Alan Gross, American international development professional
- Mary Gross, American actress

and 12 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Grasso, Grose, Grass, Grosso, Gress, Gros, Grassi, Grossi, Grosse, Griess, Gras, Grosz.

## 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.