Given name & surname
Grace
Grace is an English word name with religious roots and later associations with both public figures and everyday naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a name, Grace carries the word’s association with divine favour. Its meaning comes from a vocabulary word rather than a compound of older personal names.
Where it comes from
Grace comes from the English abstract noun, which traces back to Latin gratia.
How it developed
The English word became a given name in its own right. In Ireland, Grace was also used as an English form of Grainne; that substitution is a separate naming tradition.
The story
Puritans used Grace as a given name in the seventeenth century. Later bearers such as the rescue heroine Grace Darling and the actress Grace Kelly added distinct historical associations to it.
Grace through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 536,340
- 1,405 boys · 534,935 girls
- Most popular year
- 2003
- 12,801 babies
- 2025
- 5,139
- #38 for girls · #6,935 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −22%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5,127 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 38 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 22.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 12,781 in 2003. It also appeared in 12 birth records for boys in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (468). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 322,614 as a first name in 2020; 27,610 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Grace’s family of names
Grace has an affectionate form in Gracie. Grace shares a linguistic root with Gracia. Grace has a related form in Graciela.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Grace has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
13 related names in 11 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 36
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Graciediminutive · English
- Gracelynnvariant
- Gracielavariant
- Graceyvariant
- Graycevariant
- Grazielladiminutive · Italian
- Graciellavariant
- Gracelynnevariant
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- Graceevariant
- Gracivariant
- Gracianavariant
- Graciavariant · Spanish
- Graziavariant · Italian
- Gratiavariant
- Graciousvariant
- Graciellevariant
- Gracellavariant
- Graccelikely variant
- Graecevariant
- Gricievariant
- Graziniavariant
- Gratianevariant
- Gechinavariant
- Gradanavariant
- Gracinhavariant
- Gracienevariant
- Gracavariant
- Grazynavariant
- Graziosavariant
- Grazinavariant
- Gratiellavariant
- Gratielavariant
- Gratianavariant
- Gratavariant
- Gracinavariant
- Gracijavariant
Across languages 11
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Gracenequivalent
- GraçaPortuguese
- GreicePortuguese
- GracjaPolish
- GrâceFrench
- Gráciaequivalent
- GiorsalScottish Gaelic
- חנהYiddish, Hebrew
Show 3 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Grace
- Grace KellyAmerican actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982)
- Grace HopperAmerican computer scientist and United States Navy officer (1906–1992)
- Grace JonesJamaican singer, model and actressborn 1948
- Grace CoolidgeFirst Lady of the United States from 1923 to 19291879–1957
- Grace SlickAmerican musician, writer and painterborn 1939
- Grace ParkKorean-American-Canadian actressborn 1974
- Grace O'Malleypirate Queen of Umaill, chieftain of the Ó Máille clan1539–1599
- Grace MugabeFirst lady of Zimbabwe; wife of Robert Mugabeborn 1965
- Grace MooreAmerican operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film (1898-1947)
Characters named Grace: Grace Holloway (Doctor Who companion), Grace Ashcroft (Resident Evil Requiem).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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Similar names
If you love Grace, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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