The Fascinating Story Behind America's Most Common Surnames

Surnames often tell the story of a person's family history and ethnic roots and give an indication of cultural and geographic shifts that have taken place over the centuries. The U.S. is almost entirely made up of immigrants and their descendants, so the popularity and dominance of particular family names can shine a light on the immigratory patterns that have shaped the country and its regions. In 2023, Ancestry.com reviewed phone book listings nationwide to determine the most common surnames in every U.S. state.

The map below shows the results of Ancestry.com’s investigation, giving an insight into the historical patterns that have dictated the popularity of names across the U.S. Smith is by far the most common surname in the U.S., holding the top spot in 40 states and ranking in the top three in a further five. Like Baker, Fisher, or Glover, Smith began as an occupational surname for those who worked with metal, tracing its roots back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon and medieval English periods.

According to Richard Coates, a professor of onomastics at the University of the West of England, Smith has remained the most common surname in England. It became so because the smith's job in an English village was the principal specialized job; every village/manor needed one, and it was important enough to 'buy' a skilled man out of his basic farming role.

The name was carried over the Atlantic by European immigrants during both the first wave of English settlers and the later periods of Irish and Scottish immigration. The resulting prevalence in the 19th and early 20th centuries led many German immigrants to anglicize their own surnames, such as Schmitz or Schmidt, into Smith in an effort to assimilate. It gained wider usage among Native Americans who wanted more English-sounding names when dealing with settlers, and the significant number of English Smiths owning slaves in the 19th century meant it went on to achieve wider usage among African Americans.

Besides Smith, Williams and Johnson are the most common surnames in the U.S., with at least one of these featuring in the top three of every state besides Hawaii, California, and New Mexico. Like Smith, these names were likely carried over by English and European immigrants, and Coates noted that they have similarly dominated for centuries in the U.K.

Hawaii's most common surnames—Lee, Wong, and Kim—do not appear in any other top three list in the U.S. While the name Lee has English, Irish, and Norwegian origins, its prevalence in Hawaii is likely due to the Aloha State's Asian influence. According to Boston University's Korean Diaspora Project, when Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. in 1898, plantation owners required cheap labor, leading to an influx of Chinese workers from Canton and laborers from Korea.

According to 2020 Census Bureau data, nearly 57 percent of Hawaii's population is now Asian or a combination of Asian and other ethnicities. California had two Spanish last names—Hernandez and Lopez—which did not feature in the top three of any other state. However, the most common surname in California, Garcia, remains popular in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, alongside names like Martinez and Chavez. Ancestry.com noted that this is due to these states' large Latino populations.

In conclusion, the landscape of surnames in the U.S. provides a fascinating glimpse into the country's rich tapestry of history, migration, and cultural exchange. As we explore these names and their stories, we not only learn about the individuals who bear them but also about the broader forces that have shaped American society.