Grimm

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Grimm is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English68%

  linguists, fairy tale collectors

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

  Jacob and Wilhelm, German

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• German20%

  wrath, deep-rooted anger, rage

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  Übername zu mhd./mnd. grim, grimme 'grimmig, schrecklich, wild'; bearers: 13534. Weitere Formen: Grim, Grimme, Grimmen, Grimmig, Grimmer, Grimsehl, Grimsel(l).

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen

  dividual, from OHG grimm stern, severe.

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Grimm, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Poe
• Salem
• Thorne
• Hades
• Disney

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Grimm is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• German surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany, United States, Switzerland, Austria

  Also written Grímm

• Greek surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States

  Also written Γκριμ

56 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Grimm is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• 1. nickname for a dour and forbidding individual, from Old High German grim ‘stem’, ‘severe’. 2. from a Germanic personal name from grima ‘mask’, ‘helmet’.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Jacob Grimmb. 1785DEGerman philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist (1785–1863)
• Wilhelm Grimmb. 1786DEGerman author, philologist, collector of fairy tales and legends (1786–1859)
• Michael Grimmb. 1970USAmerican politician (born 1970)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

38 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 21 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Where does the name Grimm come from?

1. nickname for a dour and forbidding individual, from Old High German grim ‘stem’, ‘severe’. 2. from a Germanic personal name from grima ‘mask’, ‘helmet’. Recorded by Dictionary of American Family Names.

What does the name Grimm mean?

In German, wrath, deep-rooted anger, rage

Which countries have the most people with the surname Grimm?

In the United States, the national register counted about 22 thousand people named Grimm, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled grimm. After it come United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and France; the country table on this page ranks them.

Where is Grimm most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Grimm is densest in Switzerland — about 1 in 4.1 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Grimm?

In the United States, the national register counted 22,103 people named Grimm in 2010, about 1 in 15 thousand residents.