15 Most Common US Surnames May Surprise You

6 of top 15 are traditionally Hispanic
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2016 9:30 AM CST
15 Most Common US Surnames May Surprise You
A volunteer helps a woman with citizenship paperwork in Miami Springs, Fla.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

You're almost as likely to come upon someone with the last name "Garcia," "Rodriguez," or "Lopez" as you are to find someone with the surname "Jones." That's according to 2010 Census data released Thursday, which shows six of the 15 most common surnames are traditionally Hispanic, reports OregonLive; in 1990, zero were. The change is partly because of what a population researcher refers to as "more surname clustering," noting 25% of US Hispanics have one of 26 surnames. "The pattern is similar for Asians and blacks." Zhang, Li, Ali, and Liu were the fastest-growing surnames in 2010. Here are the new top 15 (a list that no longer includes Taylor and Thomas), with the rough number of occurrences:

  1. Smith: 2.4 million
  2. Johnson: 1.9 million
  3. Williams: 1.6 million
  4. Brown: 1.4 million
  5. Jones: 1.4 million
  6. Garcia: 1.2 million
  7. Miller: 1.2 million
  8. Davis: 1.1 million
  9. Rodriguez: 1.1 million
  10. Martinez: 1.1 million
  11. Hernandez: 1 million
  12. Lopez: 874,500
  13. Gonzalez: 841,000
  14. Wilson: 802,000
  15. Anderson: 784,000
(Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele is probably safe from the list for a while.)

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