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List of most common surnames

From Genealogy

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Family names can be unique or come in large numbers. In different countries some names are more common than others. This is a listing of common surnames (alphabetical by country names):

Contents

[edit] Argentina

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

[edit] Bangladesh

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

[edit] Belgium

Rank Name Number of people
1 Peeters 33,113
2 Janssens 30,996
3 Maes 25,567
4 Jacobs 20,096
5 Mertens 18,699
6 Willems 18,540
7 Claes 16,757
8 Goossens 16,075
9 Wouters 15,834
10 De Smet 14,251

For the three Regions in Belgium, the most common surnames are:

Rank Flemish region Walloon region Brussels-Capital region
1 Peeters Dubois Janssens
2 Janssens Lambert Peeters
3 Maes Martin Dubois
4 Jacobs Dupont Jacobs
5 Willems Dumont Mertens
Date

January 1, 2001

Source

Statistics Belgium, Demographical Statistics. [1]

[edit] Brazil

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Most of Brazilian surnames derive from Portuguese surnames. The Portuguese started colonizing Brazil in the 16th century and brought with them many Black African slaves who were forced to work in Sugarcane plantations and other intensive labor activities. Since these slaves were considered property of their masters, they usually adopted their master’s surname, as well as their offspring. When someone's surname was unknown, not verifiable or considered unpronounceable in Portuguese language, their surname was usually registered as "da Costa" when living near the sea coast or "da Silva" (from the forest) if lived inland. The surname "dos Santos" (from the saints) was given to orphan children. This explains why these names (da Costa, da Silva, dos Santos) are so common and why, although the high degree of miscegenation between Portuguese, African and local Indigenous people, Portuguese names are so common. Other common surnames of Portuguese origin, such as Pires, Rodrigues, Lopes, Mendes, Fernandes - notice that they end with -es, not -ez as in Spanish, are also still very common both in Portugal and Brazil. Also many "New Christians" (converted Jews) who adopted names after trees (Pereira, Oliveira), geographic sites (Ribeiro, Matos), or animals (Coelho, Peixe), came from Portugal to Brazil to escape the Inquisition period in Europe - note that these names are not Jewish in origin and are not a sign of Jewish ancestry per se. A new wave of European immigration came to Brazil in the late 19th and 20th centuries, mainly during and after the 1st and 2nd World War, and was primarily composed by Portuguese, Italian, German and Polish searching for better living conditions in the “New World”, as well as Europeans of Jewish origin who were escaping Nazi persecutions.Every country or region has a common surname in Brazil, like the French Bittencourt, Bethencourt, very common in Brazil, but not one of the most commons in France, also the German Fischer, Müller, Schmidt and the Arab surnames Habib and Haddad, meaning Beloved and Smith or the Japanese Suzuki, a kind of tree. The surname divine Mean appeared in Brazil, from the story of a descendant of the family that Meano desvendou the principal secret of the universe, the love. He is one more member of society of love in the humanity history.

[edit] Bulgaria

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

[edit] Canada

[edit] English Canada

  1. Johnson
  2. Smith
  3. Martin
  4. Morris
  5. Hill
  6. Hall
  7. Jackson

Source: [2]

[edit] Quebec French Canada

The 50 most popular surnames in Quebec

  1. Tremblay (1.13%)
  2. Gagnon (0.82%)
  3. Roy (0.77%)
  4. Côté (0.74%)
  5. Bouchard (0.56%)
  6. Gauthier (0.55%)
  7. Morin (0.51%)
  8. Lavoie (0.49%)
  9. Fortin (0.47%)
  10. Gagné (0.47%)
  11. Pelletier (0.45%)
  12. Bélanger (0.44%)
  13. Bergeron (0.41%)
  14. Lévesque (0.41%)
  15. Simard (0.38%)
  16. Girard (0.37%)
  17. Leblanc (0.37%)
  18. Boucher (0.35%)
  19. Ouellet (0.34%)
  20. Caron (0.32%)
  21. Beaulieu (0.31%)
  22. Poirier (0.31%)
  23. Dubé (0.31%)
  24. Cloutier (0.31%)
  25. Fournier (0.30%)
  26. Lapointe (0.30%)
  27. Lefebvre (0.29%)
  28. Poulin (0.28%)
  29. Nadeau (0.28%)
  30. Martin (0.27%)
  31. St-Pierre (0.27%)
  32. Martel (0.26%)
  33. Grenier (0.26%)
  34. Landry (0.26%)
  35. Lessard (0.26%)
  36. Leclerc (0.25%)
  37. Bédard (0.25%)
  38. Bernier (0.24%)
  39. Couture (0.24%)
  40. Richard (0.23%)
  41. Michaud (0.23%)
  42. Desjardins (0.23%)
  43. Hébert (0.22%)
  44. Blais (0.22%)
  45. Turcotte (0.22%)
  46. Savard (0.22%)
  47. Lachance (0.22%)
  48. Parent (0.22%)
  49. Demers (0.21%)
  50. Gosselin (0.21%)

Percentage of total population: 17.82%

Sources: Institut de la statistique du Québec, Quelques Statistiques sur les Noms de Famille and Les 1 000 premiers noms de famille selon le rang, Québec

[edit] China

See also: List of common Chinese surnames

According to the survey conducted by Chinese Academy of Sciences released in January 2006, the top twenty surnames in China are listed as follows.

  1. (李) Lǐ
  2. (王) Wáng
  3. (張) Zhāng
  4. (劉) Liú
  5. (陳) Chén
  6. (楊) Yáng
  7. (黃) Huáng
  8. (趙) Zhào
  9. (周) Zhou
  10. (吳) Wú
  11. (徐) Xú
  12. (孫) Sūn
  13. (朱) Zhū
  14. (馬) Mǎ
  15. (胡) Hu
  16. (郭) Guō
  17. (林) Lín
  18. (何) Hé
  19. (高) Gāo
  20. (梁) Liáng
In a different study (1987) which combined data from China and Taiwan (sample size of 570,000 persons), the outcome was a bit different. The number one Chinese family name was (李) Lǐ at 7.9% of the sample, followed by (王) Wáng at 7.4% and (張) Zhāng at 7.1%; the study showed that the top 19 names covered 55.6% and the top 100 names covered 87% of the sample. Chinese family names distributed differently according to regions. The north was dominated by (李) Lǐ, (王) Wáng, (張) Zhāng, and (劉) Liú; the south was dominated by (陳) Chén, (趙) Zhào, (黃) Huáng, (林) Lín, and (吳) Wú. There were over 450 family names in Beijing, but there were fewer than 300 family names in Guangdong and Fujian. Apparently the distribution of the statistics was significantly affected by the bias from the Taiwanese data.

[edit] Croatia

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.
  1. Babić
  2. Horvat
  3. Horvatinčić
  4. Perko
  5. Kovač
  6. Radić
  7. Bilić
  8. Banić (from old Croatian title Ban)
  9. Banović
  10. Ravlić
  11. Križanić
  12. Polančec
  13. Pavletić
  14. Tomčić
  15. Primorac
  16. Spinčić
  17. Zečić
  18. Jurić
  19. Jurčić
  20. Jurišić
  21. Kovačić
  22. Bogdanić
  23. Vlašić
  24. Vlahović
  25. Alagić
  26. Alapić
  27. Pogorelić
  28. Petrić
  29. Antić
  30. Jerković
  31. Juriša
  32. Klanac
  33. Vučetić
  34. Vukić
  35. Vukčić
  36. Vokić
  37. Pavičić
  38. Špoljarec
  39. Anić
  40. Aničić
  41. Franić
  42. Franjić
  43. Klanjec
  44. Matić
  45. Šimić
  46. Šimunović
  47. Šimatović
  48. Mesić
  49. Milić
  50. Miličić
  51. Mlakar
  52. Katić
  53. Katišić
  54. Katičić
  55. Jeričević
  56. Starčević
  57. Mikulanec
  58. Mikulan
  59. Ranogajec
  60. Ranogajac
  61. Lučić
  62. Lukić
  63. Luković
  64. Sorić
  65. Matanić
  66. Matančić
  67. Rudić
  68. Rudek
  69. Rudeković
  70. Balog
  71. Nazor
  72. Suton (means dusk)
  73. Sumrak (dusk)
  74. Osvit (usually name as well, means dawn)
  75. Leš (means corpse)
  76. Smrtić (˝smrt˝ menas death, thus Smrtić would mean son of death)
  77. Gajić
  78. Belostenec
  79. Šutalo
  80. Tlak (means pressure: atmospheric, blood pressure etc.)
  81. Arbutina (Latin, Arbut: small estate)
  82. Ivanić (From the name Ivan)
  83. Ivanović
  84. Ivančić
  85. Stipanić (Stipan means Stephen in Croatia; in Croatia the name Stjepan is common as well)
  86. Stipančić
  87. Stipić
  88. Stipanović
  89. Milošić
  90. Martić
  91. Dragišić
  92. Strugar
  93. Stupar
  94. Košar (Koš means a basket; Košar is a craftsman who makes baskets)
  95. Sedlar (Sedlo menans saddle; Sedlar is a craftsman who makes saddles)
  96. Pernar (Pero (also a short term of Peter in Croatia) means feather, a craftsman or any man that deals with feathers)
  97. Krznar (Krzno menas fur; Krznar is a craftsman or any man that deals with fur)
  98. Krizmanić (Krizma is one of seven church sacraments)
  99. Tudor
  100. Mijatović
  101. Farkaš
  102. Mučnjak
  103. Udovičić
  104. Turković
  105. Prpić
  106. Šantić
  107. Šakić
  108. Županić (Župan is an old Croatian title still in use)
  109. Župančić

Most Croatian names end in "ić", but there are many that end in "ec", "ek" and "ac" .

[edit] Czech Republic

  1. Novák (70 504)
  2. Svoboda (52 088)
  3. Novotný (49 962)
  4. Dvořák (46 099)
  5. Černý (36 743)
  6. Procházka (33 274)
  7. Kučera (31 286)
  8. Veselý (26 481)
  9. Horák (25 174)
  10. Němec (22 795)
  11. Marek (22 548)
  12. Pokorný (22 203)
  13. Pospíšil (22 189)
  14. Hájek (21 276)
  15. Jelínek (20 733)
  16. Král (20 510)
  17. Růžička (19846)
  18. Beneš (19 600)
  19. Fiala (19 121)
  20. Sedláček (18 484)

Feminized names included (m. Novák - f. Nováková).
Source: Ministry of Interior (as of 2002).

[edit] Denmark

Most popular Danish family names (as of 2004) [3]

  1. Jensen 303089
  2. Nielsen 296850
  3. Hansen 248968
  4. Pedersen 186913
  5. Andersen 172894
  6. Christensen 133033
  7. Larsen 129662
  8. Sørensen 124175
  9. Rasmussen 104130
  10. Jørgensen 98354
  11. Petersen 92189
  12. Madsen 70176
  13. Kristensen 65074
  14. Olsen 54044
  15. Thomsen 40514
  16. Christiansen 40224
  17. Poulsen 34203
  18. Johansen 33120
  19. Knudsen 31977
  20. Mortensen 31252

The most popular Danish family names all end with "sen", meaning "son". That means, that for example "Jensen" is "son of Jens", "Poulsen" is "son of Poul". An example: if Hans Petersen's father was Peter Sørensen, Hans' father's name was Peter, and his grandfather's Søren. His son would then be (first name) Hansen. This method of naming children was widely used up to the middle of the 19th century. Sometimes it was also common to give to girls names such as "Jensdatter" or "Poulsdatter", meaning daughter of Jens, or daughter of Poul. These names are now seldom seen in Denmark, but still widely known and used in Iceland (where the ending is -dóttir).

Nowadays, the "sen" names have lost their meanings, because women bear them too.

[edit] Estonia

[edit] Finland

Source: Population Register Centre, 20 June 2005. Percentages are based on the population of Finland on 21 June 2005.

  1. Virtanen - 24,204 (0.461%)
  2. Korhonen - 23,721 (0.452%)
  3. Nieminen - 21,841 (0.416%)
  4. Mäkinen - 21,699 (0.414%)
  5. Mäkelä - 19,674 (0.375%)
  6. Hämäläinen - 19,518 (0.372%)
  7. Laine - 18,908 (0.360%)
  8. Koskinen - 18,058 (0.344%)
  9. Heikkinen - 17,939 (0.342%)
  10. Järvinen - 17,381 (0.331%)

Most of the names of this list refer to the living place of the first holder of the name. Virta and Koski refer the original holder has located nearby a river. Mäki = hill, Järvi = lake, Niemi = cape. Hämäläinen means an inhabitant of Häme (Tavastia county). Heikki is a common man's first name.

[edit] France

Source (2004) : [4]

  1. Martin - 235,846 (0.393%) - From Saint Martin, patron saint of France (from Martius, Latin for warrior)
  2. Bernard - 105,132 (0.175%) - From Saint Bernard, from Germanic for bold as a bear
  3. Dubois - 95,998 (0.159%) - "From the wood"
  4. Thomas - 95,387 (0.158%) - From Saint Thomas (Jesus' Disciple), from Hebrew for twin
  5. Robert - 91,393 (0.152%) - From Germanic for bright fame
  6. Richard - 90,689 (0.151§) - "Rich/powerful"
  7. Petit - 88,318 (0.147%) - "Small" (size)
  8. Durand - 84,252 (0.140%) - From Durandus (Latin for strong, lasting)
  9. Leroy - 78,868 (0.131%) - "The King/The winner"
  10. Moreau - 78,177 (0.130) - Dark complexion (like Maures)
  11. Simon - 76,655 (0.127%) - From Saint Simon, from Hebrew for Yehova heard
  12. Laurent - 75,307 (0.125%) - From Saint Laurent, from Latin laurens, Laurel-crowned
  13. Lefebvre - 74,564 (0.124%) - "The smith"
  14. Michel - 74,318 (0.123%) - From Saint Michel, from Hebrew for Who is like God
  15. Garcia - 68,720 (0.114%) - Spanish surname meaning grace
  16. David - 61,762 (0.103%) - From King David, from Hebrew for Beloved
  17. Bertrand - 59,817 (0.100%) From Germanic for bright and vigorous
  18. Roux - 59,440 (0.099%) - "Red-haired"
  19. Vincent - 57,351 (0.096%) - From Saint Vincent, from Latin vicens, winner
  20. Fournier - 57,047 (0.095%) - "Baker"
  21. Morel - 56,760 (0.095%) - Dark complexion (like Maures)
  22. Girard - 55,642 (0.093%) - From Germanic for bold as a spear
  23. André - 55,228 (0.092%) - From Saint André, from Greek for manly
  24. Lefèvre - 53670 (0.089%) - "The smith"
  25. Mercier - 53622 (0.089%) - "Trader/Shopkeeper"

[edit] Germany

data from 1995
  1. Müller (0.95%)(Miller)
  2. Schmidt (0.69%) (Smith, blacksmith)
  3. Schneider (0.40%) (Taylor)
  4. Fischer (0.35%) (Fisher)
  5. Meyer (0.33%) (from Latin "major", the bigger one, referring to the name-giver's status)
  6. Weber (0.30%) (Weaver)
  7. Schulz (0.27%) (regionally for mayor)
  8. Wagner (0.27%) (builder of wagons and carriages)
  9. Becker (0.27%) (Baker)
  10. Hoffmann (0.26%) (owning a farm)
  11. Huber (0.18%) (owning a farm of a certain size called Hube)
  12. Klein (Small, Short)

Most of the names of this list refer to the occupation of the first holder of the name.

[edit] Greece

  1. Papadopoulos (means son of the priest)
  2. Brakus (latinized version of Greek Brakys, meaning short)

[edit] Hungary

  1. Nagy (244663; big, cf. Gross, Legrand)
  2. Kovács (228274; smith, cf. Schmidt)
  3. Tóth (223291; Slovak/Slav)
  4. Szabó (217066; tailor, cf. Schneider, Couturier)
  5. Horváth (Horvát) (201524; Croatian)
  6. Kiss (Kis) (139919; small, cf. Klein, Lepetit)
  7. Varga (137398; shoemaker, cf. Schumacher, person working with leather)
  8. Molnár (112878; miller, cf. Müller)
  9. Németh (Német) (97715; German, cf. Deutsch, Lallemand)
  10. Farkas (83755; <given name, meaning "wolf">, cf. Wolf)
  11. Balogh (79653; left-handed, unskillful)
  12. Papp (56235; priest)
  13. Takács (55180; weaver, cloth-maker, cf. Weber)
  14. Juhász (54267; shepherd, cf. Schäfer)
  15. Mészáros (42738; butcher, cf. Fleischer, Fleschmann, Boucher)
  16. Lakatos (41005; locksmith)
  17. Simon (39881; <given name>)
  18. Oláh (37147; Vlach, Romanian)
  19. Fekete (34755; black, cf. Schwarz, Lenoir)
  20. Rácz (34518; Serbian)
  21. Szilágyi (32628; from Szilágy county)
  22. Fehér (27262; white, cf. Weiss, Leblanc)
  23. Gál (Gaál) (26557; <given name>)
  24. Balázs (26158; <given name>)

Notes:

  • The above is official data of the Central Personal Data Processing Office at Hungary's Ministry of Interior in 1998 [5] via [6].
  • Beside the names, the number of their owners and their meaning is given. (Note that Hungarian surnames often show archaic spelling and occasionally employ obsolete words, especially for nationalities like tót or rác.)
  • In Hungary, the surname is placed first (see Eastern order).
  1. Novak Another common Hungarian surname - not verified.

[edit] India

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

[edit] Ireland

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.
top 20.
  1. Murphy
  2. Kelly
  3. O'Sullivan
  4. Walsh
  5. Smith
  6. O'Brien
  7. Byrne
  8. Ryan
  9. O'Connor
  10. O'Neill
  11. O'Reilly
  12. Doyle
  13. McCarthy
  14. Gallagher
  15. O'Doherty
  16. Kennedy
  17. Lynch
  18. Murray
  19. Quinn
  20. Moore

Names starting with O' are patronymic.

[edit] Israel

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.
  1. Cohen (כהן)
  2. Levi (לוי) (sometimes spelled Levy)
  3. Beth'-el: the name means House of God. Jacob, after he wrestled with an angel, changed the name of the place Luz to Bethel because "God is in this place." See Genesis 35:15
The name Cohen belongs to the members of the ancient family of priests (Kohanim, descendants of Aaron). The name Levi belongs to the members of the family of Levites, descendants of Levi.

[edit] Italy

Source: [7]

  1. Rossi - Red (hair, complexion; common in North and Central Italy)
  2. Russo - same as the above, but with the stem vowel changed according to the rules of southern Italian metaphony
  3. Ferrari - Smith (common in North Italy)
  4. Esposito - Exposed (abandoned child; common in South Italy)
  5. Bianchi - White (complexion, hair, house; common in North Italy))
  6. Romano - Italian for Roman (common in South Italy)
  7. Colombo - Italian for dove and also abandoned child (common in North Italy)
  8. Ricci - Rich (wealthy; common in South Italy)
  9. Marino - Marine (near the sea; common in South Italy)
  10. Greco - Greek (common in South Italy)
  11. Bruno - Brown (hair, complexion; common in South Italy)
  12. Gallo - Gaul or chicken (common in North and Central Italy)
  13. Conti - Count (nobleman; common in North and Central Italy)
  14. De Luca - From/of Luke (common in South Italy)
  15. Costa - Coast (near the sea or from a place named Costa; common in North and Central Italy)
  16. Giordano - Jordan (surname; common in the whole country)
  17. Mancini - Lefthanded (common in Central Italy)
  18. Rizzo - Curly (hair; common in South Italy)
  19. Lombardi - From Lombardy (common in the whole country)
  20. Moretti - From the latin surname Morus (common in North and Central Italy)
  21. Manunta - From Sardinia (also spread in Lazio and Piedmont)

[edit] Japan

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Main article: Japanese name

The most common names from Tokyo northwards are Sato and Suzuki; the most common names from Kyoto and Osaka southwards are Yamamoto and Tanaka. (A list of the most common family names in all of Japan is at http://www.japanese-name-translation.com/site/top500_Japanese_family_names.xls)

The most common names in Tokyo are:

  1. (佐藤) Satō
  2. (鈴木) Suzuki
  3. (高橋) Takahashi
  4. (田中) Tanaka
  5. (渡辺) Watanabe
  6. (伊藤) Itō
  7. (山本) Yamamoto
  8. (中村) Nakamura
  9. (小林) Kobayashi
  10. (斎藤) Saitō
  11. (加藤) Katō
  12. (吉田) Yoshida
  13. (山田) Yamada
  14. (佐々木) Sasaki
  15. (山口) Yamaguchi
  16. (松本) Matsumoto
  17. (井上) Inoue
  18. (木村) Kimura
  19. (林) Hayashi
  20. (清水) Shimizu
  21. (青木) Aoki

[edit] Korea

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Main article: List of Korean family names

  1. 김 (金; Kim, Gim)
  2. 이 (李; Lee, Yi, I)
  3. 박 (朴; Park, Pak, Bak)
  4. 최 (崔; Choi, Choe)
  5. 정 (鄭; Jung, Chung, Jeong)
  6. 강 (姜; Gang, Kang)
  7. 조 (趙 or 曹; Cho, Jo)
  8. 윤 (尹; Yoon, Yun)
  9. 장 (張; Jang, Chang)
  10. 임 (林; Lim, Im)
  11. 한 (韓; Han)
  12. 신 (申; Shin, Sin)
  13. 서 (徐; Suh, Seo)
  14. 권 (權; Kwon, Gwon)
  15. 손 (孫; Son)
  16. 황 (黃; Whang, Hwang)
  17. 송 (宋; Song)
  18. 안 (安; Ahn, An)
  19. 유 (柳 or 劉; Yoo, Yu)
  20. 홍 (洪; Hong)

Korean surnames have a variety of ways of being romanized.

[edit] Latvia

  1. Bērziņš (Berzinsh)
  2. Kalniņš (Kalninsh)
  3. Ozoliņš (Ozolinsh)
  4. Jansons (Jansons)
  5. Ozols (Ozols)
  6. Liepiņš (Liepinsh)
  7. Krūmiņš (Kruminsh)
  8. Balodis (Balodis)
  9. Eglītis (Eglitis)
  10. Zariņš (Zarinsh)
  11. Pētersons (Petersons)
  12. Vītols (Vitols)
  13. Kļaviņš (Klavinsh)
  14. Kārkliņš (Karklinsh)
  15. Vanags (Vanags)

First three literally translated - the diminutive forms of birch, hill and oak. Source - the Latvian Institute

[edit] Lithuania

For men For single women For married women
Kazlauskas Kazlauskaitė Kazlauskienė
Stankevičius Stankevičiūtė Stankevičienė
Jankauskas Jankauskaitė Jankauskienė
Petrauskas Petrauskaitė Petrauskienė
Vasiliauskas Vasiliauskaitė Vasiiliauskienė
Žukauskas Žukauskaitė Žukauskienė
Paulauskas Paulauskaitė Paulauskienė
Butkus Butkutė Butkienė

Note: Lithuanian language has different endings for surnames for men and women. The ending of a woman's surname indicates whether she is married or not. Last names of married women end in -ienė while those of unmarried girls end in -ytė, -iūtė, -utė, -aitė.

Source: The Interesting Statistics, Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Statistics Lithuania), 2005.

[edit] Malta

Sources : [8] [9]

  1. Borg (11,868) - From the Sicilian city of Burgi or from Sant'Ambrogio