State (Columbia, South Carolina), 30 June 1985, page 66
Posted on 06/02/2020 8:22:30 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega examines records from the U.S. Census Bureau to see what are the most popular surnames in the United States. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”
What is the one surname in your family tree that you dread researching? As family historians, we love researching unique surnames because those people are easier to find and we don’t have to worry about finding two people with the same name.
Surnames, of course, are key to genealogy research. In a newspaper column she wrote in 1985, genealogist Myra Vanderpool Gormley explained the importance of surnames.
State (Columbia, South Carolina), 30 June 1985, page 66
Chances are you have at least one very common surname in your family tree. One of mine, and possibly one of yours, is Smith. Pair that Smith with a popular first name like Mary Ann or William and you have a difficult family history project.
While it seems obvious that Smith has long been a common surname, I wondered: with our growing diverse population, was Smith still at the top of the list? The answer, according to U.S. Census Records, is a resounding yes. For now, Smith remains the #1 most common surname in the United States. In fact, for the last 20 years the three most commons surnames found in the census are: Smith, Johnson, and Williams (Discover Williams last name origin! )
However, some surnames that we would expect to be fairly high on the list have fallen, due to the recent rise of surnames that reflect our diverse population. For example, in the 2000 census Garcia and Rodriguez were, for the first time, in the list of the top 10 surnames, and on the 2010 census they were joined by Hernandez, Lopez, and Gonzalez in the top 15.*
The top 15 surnames for the 1990, 2000, and 2010 census were:**
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
| Smith | Smith | Smith |
| Johnson | Johnson | Johnson |
| Williams | Williams | Williams |
| Jones | Brown | Brown |
| Brown | Jones | Jones |
| Davis | Miller | Garcia |
| Miller | Davis | Miller |
| Wilson | Garcia | Davis |
| Moore | Rodriguez | Rodriguez |
| Taylor | Wilson | Martinez |
| Anderson | Martinez | Hernandez |
| Thomas | Anderson | Lopez |
| Jackson | Taylor | Gonzalez |
| White | Thomas | Wilson |
| Harris | Hernandez | Anderson |
The 2010 census recorded 6.3 million different surnames, 11 of which were reported a million times each – in contrast to 3.9 million surnames which were recorded only once.***
Curious if your surname was in the top 50 surnames for the 2010 census? That list includes:****
| Name | Frequency |
| SMITH | 2,442,977 |
| JOHNSON | 1,932,812 |
| WILLIAMS | 1,625,252 |
| BROWN | 1,437,026 |
| JONES | 1,425,470 |
| GARCIA | 1,166,120 |
| MILLER | 1,161,437 |
| DAVIS | 1,116,357 |
| RODRIGUEZ | 1,094,924 |
| MARTINEZ | 1,060,159 |
| HERNANDEZ | 1,043,281 |
| LOPEZ | 874,523 |
| GONZALEZ | 841,025 |
| WILSON | 801,882 |
| ANDERSON | 784,404 |
| THOMAS | 756,142 |
| TAYLOR | 751,209 |
| MOORE | 724,374 |
| JACKSON | 708,099 |
| MARTIN | 702,625 |
| LEE | 693,023 |
| PEREZ | 681,645 |
| THOMPSON | 664,644 |
| WHITE | 660,491 |
| HARRIS | 624,252 |
| SANCHEZ | 612,752 |
| CLARK | 562,679 |
| RAMIREZ | 557,423 |
| LEWIS | 531,781 |
| ROBINSON | 529,821 |
| WALKER | 523,129 |
| YOUNG | 484,447 |
| ALLEN | 482,607 |
| KING | 465,422 |
| WRIGHT | 458,980 |
| SCOTT | 439,530 |
| TORRES | 437,813 |
| NGUYEN | 437,645 |
| HILL | 434,827 |
| FLORES | 433,969 |
| GREEN | 430,182 |
| ADAMS | 427,865 |
| NELSON | 424,958 |
| BAKER | 419,586 |
| HALL | 407,076 |
| RIVERA | 391,114 |
| CAMPBELL | 386,157 |
| MITCHELL | 384,486 |
| CARTER | 376,966 |
| ROBERTS | 376,774 |
As you look over this list, do you see any of your family surnames? Any surprises? What’s the one surname you have the most trouble with that seems to be universally common, or common to the area you are researching? Share it with us in the comments below.
____________________
* “Hello, my name is…,” United States Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/comm/cb16-tps154_surnames_top15.html: accessed 4 April 2017).
** Ibid.
*** “Frequently Occurring Surnames in the 2010 Census,” United States Census Bureau (https://www2.census.gov/topics/genealogy/2010surnames/surnames.pdf : accessed 3 April 2017).
**** Ibid.
Interesting to see the names that are creeping up on these lists, year by year.
Go back 50 years and I'd wager none of these guest names were even in the top 50. In 2010, they made up six of the top 15 names. What will it be in 2020? Seven? Eight?
Build the damned wall! Hunt down all illegals and their offspring and ship them back. Or prepare to be a proud resident of Tijuana.
The article says they are the most "popular" surnames but, of course, we know that means popular in the sense of common.
As Steve King said, you can’t save your civilization with another country’s babies. And now he’s gone.
My surname is one that probably doesn’t even make the top 200 - particularly since it’s a Germanic surname that was bastardized by the English-speaking colonies after my earliest ancestors arrived.
My sister married a guy whose surname was in the top 50 in 2010, for whatever that’s worth.
Never met another person with the same last name. They apparently do exist.
My surname was #1839th at https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/census-last-names/
Both parties decided for us that we would become North Mexico decades ago.
We’re not that far from it.
Ive found Smith 4 different times...but no Jones...
From that list I have Harris...
Fundamentally change the nation. The left and Marxist have exactly where they want us.
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