What’s the Most Common Surname By State?

Family History
14 February 2023
by Angel Cohn

U.S. map showing top three names in all 50 states.

When doing your family research, do you stumble across the last name Smith in your area frequently? According to listings in the white pages, Smith is one of the most common last names in almost every state of the United States.

Common Surnames by State

State Last Name
Alabama Smith Williams Johnson
Alaska Smith Johnson Williams
Arizona Smith Johnson Garcia
Arkansas Smith Williams Johnson
California Garcia Hernandez Lopez
Colorado Smith Johnson Martinez
Connecticut Smith Johnson Brown
Delaware Smith Johnson Brown
Florida Smith Williams Johnson
Georgia Smith Williams Johnson
Hawaii Lee Wong Kim
Idaho Smith Johnson Anderson
Illinois Smith Johnson Williams
Indiana Smith Miller Johnson
Iowa Smith Williams Johnson
Kansas Smith Johnson Miller
Kentucky Smith Johnson Jones
Louisiana Williams Smith Johnson
Maine Smith Brown Johnson
Maryland Smith Johnson Jones
Massachusetts Smith Johnson Sullivan
Michigan Smith Johnson Williams
Minnesota Johnson Anderson Nelson
Mississippi Smith Williams Johnson
Missouri Smith Johnson Williams
Montana Smith Johnson Anderson
Nebraska Johnson Smith Miller
Nevada Smith Johnson Garcia
New Hampshire Smith Brown Johnson
New Jersey Smith Williams Johnson
New Mexico Martinez Garcia Chavez
New York Smith Williams Brown
North Carolina Smith Williams Johnson
North Dakota Johnson Anderson Olson
Ohio Smith Miller Johnson
Oklahoma Smith Johnson Williams
Oregon Smith Johnson Miller
Pennsylvania Smith Miller Williams
Rhode Island Smith Brown Johnson
South Carolina Smith Williams Brown
South Dakota Johnson Anderson Smith
Tennessee Smith Johnson Jones
Texas Garcia Smith Martinez
Utah Smith Johnson Anderson
Vermont Smith Brown Johnson
Virginia Smith Johnson Jones
Washington Smith Johnson Anderson
West Virginia Smith Miller Johnson
Wisconsin Johnson Smith Anderson
Wyoming Smith Johnson Miller

Smith, along with Johnson, Miller, Jones, Williams, and Anderson make up most of the most common surnames by state.

But there are still regional differences. If you are in the Northwest, you are more likely to come across an Anderson than a Brown, which is slightly more common on the East Coast.

Only the Southwestern portion of the country really has a lot of variety. States like Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona — where there are large Latino populations — boast a variety of names like Garcia, Hernandez, Martinez, and Chavez.

And then there’s Hawaii, whose three most-common surnames — Lee, Wong and Kim — don’t even appear in the top three anywhere else in the country.

And Massachusetts, with its large Irish population, is the only state that has Sullivan in its top three.

If you are looking to explore more about your own last name, you can always search for its meaning and origins or continue to discover your family history joining Ancestry today!