GRANTHAM
Grantham is a surname of English origin, belonging to the class of locational names derived from a specific town within the country.
The name is associated with the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England. The earliest English records of the place date back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears under variants such as Graham and Grandham. The suffix ‑ham is an Old English word meaning homestead or village, while the prefix is generally interpreted as either a personal name, Granta, or the Old English word grand meaning gravel. Consequently, the place, and by extension the surname, may be read as “Granta’s homestead” or “gravelly homestead.”
Historically the surname is recorded in the early thirteenth‑century. The first documented spelling is that of Thomas de Grantham, dated 1220 in the Curia Regis Rolls of Hertfordshire, which were issued during the reign of King Henry the Seventh (often nicknamed “The Frenchman”) from 1216 to 1272.1
Variations of the spelling have appeared over time. These include Granham, Grandham, Gratham and, less commonly, Granthem or Granthum. Minor differences in spelling historically arose from regional dialects, variations in literacy and the lack of standardised spelling.
In the mid‑sixteenth century an example of the name in documentary use is the marriage of John Grantham to Katherine Bennett on 28 October 1544 at St. Kionis Backchurch in London. Further records from that era, such as the christening of Dorithie, daughter of Hamond Grantham, on 24 March 1575 at Claxby by Normandy in Lincolnshire, show continued use of the surname in the locality.
A heraldic achievement associated with the Grantham family of Dunham in Lincolnshire is described as a field of ermine charged with a red griffin rampant, its beak and legs blue, topped by a crested Moor’s head couped at the shoulders, hair golden. The crest and arms were formally granted to the family, indicating the surname’s standing within the English gentry during the early modern period.
While the surname remains most common in the United Kingdom, particularly within the regions close to its Lincolnshire origin, it has also spread to other English‑speaking countries. Migration during the colonial era has made the name relatively common in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This global dispersal reflects broader patterns of British emigration rather than any particular concentration of the name itself.
In the present day, Grantham continues to be a recognised surname that resonates with a distinct geographical identity and a deep historical lineage. The name carries with it a sense of place, of an ancestral homestead on gravelly soil, and of the traditional English practice of naming a family after its native settlement.
Typical given names associated with the Grantham surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
- Thomas
Female
- Beverley
- Emma
- Helen
- Janet
- Katherine
- Kelly
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Grantham in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 3,996 people named Grantham in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,340th most common surname in Britain. Around 61 in a million people in Britain are named Grantham.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Grantham
- Leslie Grantham - Actor (1947 to 2018)
- Jeremy Grantham - Businessman
- Alexander Grantham - Colonial administrator (1899 to 1978)
- Billy Grantham - (1880 to 1942)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.