Grief Surname

261,733rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 1,499 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Grief Surname Definition:

From the office of 'grieve,' overseer of a farm, bailiff, or under steward. The name may be the equivalent of mediaeval 'prepositus.' Johan Greve of Haytone, Berwickshire, rendered homage, 1296 (Bain, II, p. 207). Johannes Grefe in the parish of Fyvy was excommunicated in 1382 (REA.

Read More About This Surname

Grief Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England4501:123,81812,430
United States4341:835,15963,868
Germany3291:244,69726,709
Algeria1561:247,63826,688
Canada501:736,91258,785
Wales161:193,40812,484
South Africa121:4,514,809137,638
Australia111:2,454,155103,534
France91:7,380,302306,885
Austria91:946,15970,786
Scotland51:1,070,76331,189
Tanzania41:13,235,40384,310
Brazil21:107,037,1661,031,150
Netherlands21:8,443,588136,641
Norway21:2,571,14395,402
United Arab Emirates21:4,581,13693,443
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Thailand11:70,638,3451,175,915
Philippines11:101,238,223404,861
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1741:140,08812,645
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States2121:236,88119,844

Grief (133) may also be a first name.

Grief Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

From the office of 'grieve,' overseer of a farm, bailiff, or under steward. The name may be the equivalent of mediaeval 'prepositus.' Johan Greve of Haytone, Berwickshire, rendered homage, 1296 (Bain, II, p. 207). Johannes Grefe in the parish of Fyvy was excommunicated in 1382 (REA., I, p. 165). John Grefe was one of an inquest in Prestwick, 1470 (Prestwick, p. 2). Lawrence Greif witnessed a sasine in Lauderdale, 1493 (Laing, 217), Andro Greiff was member of an assize at Cuper, 1521 (SCBF., p. 222), and George Greif witnessed a sasine in 1525 (Home, 35). Alexander Greif was admitted burgess of Aberdeen, 1528 (NSCM., I, p. 49), and in the same year John Greif was 'rentalit in mylne of Edylstoun' (Rental). James Greife was tenant under Kelso Abbey, 1567 (Kelso, p. 520), Mathow Greif was 'redar' at the Kirk of Monekyn, 1569 (RPC., I, p. 684), Alexander Greif was schoolmaster in Stirling, 1603 (SBR., p. 103), and Johannes Grieff, burgess of Bruntiland before 1605 (Inquls., 213). John Grieve was a minor Border poet, and another John Grieve, provost of Edinburgh, 1782—83, was publicly horsewhipped by some roughs because he had placed some of their lady friends, ladies of easy virtue, in the pillory. The Greves of Greviston, in Traquair parish, may have been so named from the office which they held. They gave name to Greviston there, spelled Grewiston in 1436, in 1463 Greistoun. Gref 1470, Greiuve 1585, Greyf 1526, Greyve 1296.

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

Anglo-Saxon gerefa, prases, like the German graf. In Scotland the manager of a farm, or superintendent of any work-a reeve. It has been variously corrupted to Greive, Greaves, Greeves, &c.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

A superintendent of a coal pit.

The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames (1862) by Clifford Stanley Sims (1839-1896)

Same as Grieve, Greive; from Anglo-Saxon gerefa (G. graf), a bailiff, a reeve.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Grief Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Grief Come From? nationality or country of origin

Grief occurs more in England more than any other country/territory. It may also be rendered as a variant:. For other potential spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Grief? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 261,733rd most commonly occurring family name world-wide. It is borne by approximately 1 in 4,861,605 people. The last name occurs mostly in Europe, where 55 percent of Grief reside; 32 percent reside in Northern Europe and 31 percent reside in British Isles. It is also the 804,402nd most frequently occurring forename world-wide It is held by 133 people.

It is most widely held in England, where it is held by 450 people, or 1 in 123,818. In England Grief is most prevalent in: Norfolk, where 28 percent reside, Cambridgeshire, where 15 percent reside and North Yorkshire, where 9 percent reside. Outside of England it exists in 21 countries. It is also common in The United States, where 29 percent reside and Germany, where 22 percent reside.

Grief Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Grief has changed over time. In England the number of people carrying the Grief surname grew 259 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in The United States it grew 205 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Grief Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those bearing the Grief surname are 21.93% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 68.7% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Grief earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 78.26% less than the national average, earning R 51,672 per year; in United States they earn 5.08% more than the national average, earning $45,343 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.16% more than the national average, earning $52,245 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Grieff91509/
Grieef9133/
Griefs912/
Griefe912/
Grieft911/
Graief910/
Gref891,658/
Grif89524/
Grieeff832/
Grieffe831/
Greif809,061/
Graef806,475/
Grieb804,792/
Greff804,614/
Greef802,055/
Grefe801,933/
Griff801,344/
Grift80771/
Grife80419/
Graif80235/
Greaf8071/
Griev8067/
Greyf8048/
Griew8044/
Greft8038/
Groef8014/
Ngref809/
Gretf802/
Grisf801/
Gritf801/
Gresf801/
Grejf801/
Ghrif801/
Grieffth771/
Greeff7311,904/
Graeff735,491/
Ghrieb734,137/
Greiff731,910/
Greffe731,088/
Griffe73889/
Graiff73602/
Greife73399/
Greufe73235/
Graieb73152/
Groeff7399/
Greefs7390/
Griffs7354/
Greaff7344/
Grueff7322/
Grifhs7319/
Grijff7316/
Grijev7312/
Grayif7312/
Grefft739/
Greyff738/
Grievs736/
Grifft736/
Greefe735/
Groiff734/
Greafe733/
Grioff733/
Griyeb732/
Grieev731/
Gretff731/
Graife731/
Ghrift731/
Greift731/
G'Reyf731/
Greifs730/
Graehf730/
Grib6711,814/
Gräf679,314/
Greb677,570/
Grew672,480/
Grev67325/
Gryf6788/
Griv6738/
Greiffe6718/
Ghraieb6717/
Grayeff6714/
Grajefe6713/
Grijeva677/
Groueff676/
Grifova675/
Griifth672/
Grefová671/
Graiffs671/
Greifeh671/
Griff's671/
Griffph671/
Grrgiev671/
Grahieb671/
Grefsch671/
Grefsås671/
Greaeff670/
Graiffe670/
Greaffe670/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Grief
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis