Meaning and history
From a Scottish surname ultimately derived from the English place name Grantham, probably meaning “gravelly homestead” in Old English, Graham was brought to Scotland in the 12th century by the Norman baron William de Graham. Notable bearers include the inventor Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) and the British author Graham Greene (1904–1991). The name was more common in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada than in the United States during the 20th century, but it has been rising on American charts since about 2006.
20062006: 649 births, rank #430
2007: 798 births, rank #382
2008: 1,031 births, rank #322
2009: 1,328 births, rank #263
2010: 1,189 births, rank #284
20112011: 1,356 births, rank #256
2012: 1,715 births, rank #215
2013: 1,883 births, rank #203
2014: 2,039 births, rank #199
2015: 2,378 births, rank #176
20162016: 2,247 births, rank #179
2017: 2,111 births, rank #185
2018: 2,174 births, rank #182
2019: 2,156 births, rank #180
2020: 2,095 births, rank #186
20212021: 2,381 births, rank #161
2022: 2,401 births, rank #155
2023: 2,537 births, rank #141
2024: 2,798 births, rank #129
20252025: 2,967 births, rank #120
Graham rose from #129 to #120 for boys between 2024 and 2025. That year also produced its highest recorded birth count, at 2,967.