Common Surnames

From “Surnames and Her-Names

On the whole, in two centuries, the most common names in the United States have not changed all that much.  Smith is still the best name for signing into a hotel anonymously.  Johnson has moved up a notch to second.  And the top five at the turn of the 18th century are still in the top six.

Thirty-six of the original top fifty were still on the list two centuries later.  Of the Fourteen that fell from the list, nine (Stewart, Rogers, Reed, Cook, Bailey, Richardson, Bennett, Foster, and Russell) were still in the top 100 while just five (Cole, Stevens, Stone, Pierce, and Wheeler) fell further.  Notice the rise of seven Latino names into the top 50.

The biggest decline in popularity was the once popular Wheeler which fell from forty-fifth to 208th in ranking. Another notable decline can be seen with the name of Clark, once sixth most common, now merely twenty-first.  My guess is that the Wheelers and Clarks of the country either produced a lot of daughters or else chose prosperity over posterity and had few children.

50 Most Common Surnames in the United States

1990 Rank Surname No. per 10,000 1790 Rank
1Smith1011
2Johnson813
3Williams707
4Jones624
5Brown622
6Davis485
7Miller428
8Wilson349
9Moore3114
10Taylor3111
11Anderson31-
12Thomas3123
13Jackson3142
14White2810
15Harris2830
16Martin2722
17Thompson2712
18Garcia25-
19Martinez23-
20Robinson2337
21Clark236
22Rodriguez23-
23Lewis2321
24Lee2349
25Walker2231
1990 Rank Surname No. per 10,000 1790 Rank
26Hall2015
27Allen2013
28Young1928
29Hernandez19-
30King1934
31Wright1926
32Lopez19-
33Hill1916
34Scott1944
35Green1820
36Adams1717
37Baker1719
38Gonzalez17-
39Nelson16-
40Carter16-
41Mitchell16-
42Perez16-
43Roberts1539
44Turner1546
45Phillips1535
46Campbell1543
47Parker1525
48Evan14-
49Edwards14-
50Collins13-