Inspiration - I started researching my family tree in early 2017. I undertook an autosomal (family finder) DNA test in 2018 - subsequently my sister and parents have been tested. I was very fortunate that the first DNA match I was able to add to my family tree was with the father of a professional genealogist. Geoff Swinfield has gently guided me through the intricacies of DNA testing. Geoff initiated the Swinfield One-Name Study, and it his example that gave me the idea to initiate a One-Name Study into the Grain surname.

Perspiration - As I’ve not been able to trace beyond my great-great-great grandfather (William Grain 1801-1882) on my direct paternal line, I started collating all the records of Grain I could find, concentrating on England (and Wales), and particularly Leicestershire. The core records were taken from FreeBMD, but have been expanded since to incorporate other records, such as Parish Registers, censuses and the like.

Expiration - It is my intent to preserve the Study, availing myself of the Guild’s Electronic Archive, and (so far as possible, subject to GDPR) to make it public. I am also setting up a separate website and blog, detailing this Study.

Nick Grain 7 June 2023

The initial variants I have chosen are Grane and Graine - whether these should be classed as deviants rather than variants is something I’m hoping the Study will help to clarify.
Nick Grain 25 July 2019

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (edited by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, and Peter McClure; Oxford University Press in 2016) gives various likely origins of the name:
(a) English: locative name from Old Scandinavian grein 'inlet; fork in a river', or from some place with that or a similar name, such as Grain (Kent). Some examples, those without a preposition (de , del , atte ), may belong with (b) or (c).
(b) English: relationship name from the Old Scandinavian personal name Grein literally 'branch', but also 'discord' or 'discernment’.
(c) English, Huguenot: nickname from Middle English grain 'bud; spot, pustule' (Old French gram), possibly for a person with facial marks. From the late 16th century the name was augmented, or possibly superseded, by Protestant refugees from France and the Low Countries whose family name, identical in form, derives directly from Old French gram.
Nick Grain 25 July 2019

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (see Origins, above) gives many examples, with different spellings, principally commencing in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
The most prominent individuals that I have come across (to date) are Sir Peter Grain (1864-1947), a British judge who worked for the British empire in both Africa and Asia, and his uncle, Richard Corney Grain (1844-95), a performer of comic musical sketches.
Nick Grain 7 June 2023

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (see Origins, above) (including the variant Grein) gives current frequencies of GB 353 and Ireland 3 - the GB frequency for 1881 is 329. The My Heritage search facility gives 10,796 occurrences in the 1880 US census (likely inflated number as references to grain stores, grain companies and the like appear to have been incorporated), 669 in the 1881 GB census and 248 in the 1940 US census.
Nick Grain 25 July 2019

Although most of my research has been limited to England and Wales, the name seems to have spread around the United States and British commonwealth countries. I have also seen some records from France (usually with a “de” or “le” prefix) - these may accord with an early Norman French origin to the name. The principal instances for England from the early censuses are found in Leicestershire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (West Riding).
Nick Grain 25 July 2019

I am formulating family trees for as many lines of the name as possible, incorporating (for England and Wales):

Civil registration indexes (1837 and after)

Censuses (1841-1921)

The 1939 Register 

Relevant parish registers

Probate indexes

My Guild hosted Website is presently limited to (mainly) the entries from the 1911 census, with minimal family tree formation - I intend to progress with the addition of all 1851 census entries, followed by the civil registration indexes for births, marriages and deaths.

After this initial England and Wales formulation, it is my intent to expand the scope of the Study worldwide, using any sources that may assist my research.

Nick Grain 7 June 2023

I've undertaken a y-chromosome DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA - the Study surnames are currently subsumed in that for Granger, with no current administrator - I'd hope to administer a separate group with the Study surnames in the near future. Autosomal DNA tests for my close family and I have been taken with Ancestry and MyHeritage, with results uploaded to those sites that allow it, such as FamilyTreeDNA and GEDMatch.

Nick Grain 7 June 2023

Guild hosted Website: grain.one-name.net

Website (present): https://www.myheritage.com/site-453444991/grain

DNA project (present): https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/granger

Nick Grain 7 June 2023