Your last name is a fossil. It records a job someone did, a hill someone lived on, or a father whose first name outlived him by eight hundred years.
The 100 common last names below are the most frequently reported surnames in the United States per the Census Bureau’s surname file, which counts every name held by 100 or more people. The ranks and totals quoted in each entry come from the 2010 surname file, and the names are listed A to Z rather than by rank. Each one carries its origin, meaning, pronunciation, spelling variants, and a notable bearer, so you can see exactly where a familiar name came from.
Smith still leads by a wide margin, but the list has been shifting for decades, and the fastest climbers are not the ones you would have predicted in 1950.
100 Most Popular Last Names
These common surnames are the most frequently reported in the U.S. Census Bureau’s tally of every surname held by 100 or more people, listed here A to Z.
Adams
Adams grew out of the given name Adam, which traces back through Latin adamus to a Hebrew word for earth or red clay. That image of a person shaped from the ground gave the name a plainspoken, human warmth that survived a thousand years of use. English and Scottish families adopted it as a hereditary surname in the 13th century, and it crossed the Atlantic early enough to put two Adamses in the White House. Because Adam is still a familiar first name, the surname reads as approachable rather than aristocratic. Families who want the sound without the S sometimes use Adam or Addams instead. The doubled D spelling, Addams, is a genuine variant rather than a joke invented for television.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Son of Adam
- Pronunciation: AE-duhms
- Variations: Addams, McAdam, MacAdam, Adamson
- Namesakes: Bryan Guy Adams, a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter, is known as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records and singles worldwide.
- Popularity: Adams was the 42nd most common surname in the United States in the 2010 census, carried by roughly 428,000 people. (1)
Allen
Allen came into English from two directions at once. Norman settlers brought the personal name Alain after 1066, while Irish and Scottish families carried Ailin, built on a root meaning little rock or harmony. A Celtic word aluinn, meaning handsome, feeds the same pool. Spelling split along national lines: England kept Alan for the first name and Allen for the surname, while Scotland leaned toward Allan. The result is a name that sounds equally at home in Boston, Belfast, and Glasgow.
- Origin: Celtic, English
- Meaning: Little rock, harmony, great, handsome
- Pronunciation: AE-lun
- Variations: Alan, Allan, MacAllen
- Namesakes: Heywood “Woody” Allen, an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian known for winning four Academy Awards during his career of over six decades.
- Popularity: Allen sat at #33 in the 2010 U.S. census with about 483,000 bearers, and it is common across Britain and Ireland as well.
Alvarez
Alvarez is a patronymic surname meaning son of Alvaro, formed with the Spanish ending ez that marks descent. Alvaro itself is Visigothic, built from Germanic elements usually read as all and guard, so the sense lands near watchful of everything. The Visigoths ruled much of Iberia before the Muslim conquest, and their personal names outlasted their kingdom by centuries. Alvarado looks like a close cousin but is a habitational name from a place in Badajoz rather than a patronymic.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Alvaro
- Pronunciation: AAL-vah-rehs
- Variations: Alvares, Albarez
- Namesakes: Luis Walter Alvarez, an American experimental physicist who won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physics and later proposed the asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction.
- Popularity: Alvarez ranked #92 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 234,000 people carrying it.
Anderson
Andrew comes from the Greek andreas, meaning manly, and Anderson is the son of Andrew. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, which is why the name multiplied there faster than almost anywhere else. The earliest British record of the root appears in the 1086 Domesday Book, where a landholder is listed simply as Andreas. Scandinavian families arrived at the same name independently: Sweden’s Andersson and Denmark’s Andersen both mean the same thing, and immigration officials often trimmed them to the American spelling. It is a patronymic “A” surname that has stayed in the top 20 for over a century.
- Origin: Scottish, English
- Meaning: Son of Ander or Andrew
- Pronunciation: AN-der-sun
- Variations: Andison, Androson, Andrisoune, Endherson, Andersson
- Namesakes: Ever Gabo Anderson, an American actress and model known for portraying Natasha Romanoff in the 2021 film Black Widow.
- Popularity: Anderson was the 15th most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, held by about 784,000 people.
Bailey
Bailey comes from Anglo-Norman bailli, the officer we now call a bailiff, who collected rents and kept order for a lord. A second source is architectural: the bailey is the walled courtyard of a castle, so families living beside one took the name from the wall. A third strand is locational, pointing back to Bailleul in Normandy. All three arrived in Britain with the same wave of Norman administration. Bailey has since crossed over into first-name use for girls, which gives the surname a lighter, more modern feel than its bureaucratic origins suggest.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Fortification, bailiff
- Pronunciation: bAY-lee
- Variations: Baily, Baillie, Bailie
- Namesakes: DeFord Bailey, an American country music and blues artist and the first African-American performer to have his music recorded in Nashville.
- Popularity: Bailey ranked #72 in the 2010 U.S. census, with close to 278,000 bearers.
Baker
Baker is an occupational “B” surname from Old English baecere, a form of bacan, to bake. Medieval villages usually had one communal oven, so the person who ran it was known to everyone and the trade name stuck. The trade left a second surname behind: Baxter, from the feminine baecestre, once meant a woman who baked and is now an unrelated-looking name entirely. Baker holds steady in both Britain and the United States, and it is one of the few trade surnames that still describes a job people recognize instantly.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: To dry by heat
- Pronunciation: BAY-ker
- Variations: Bakere
- Namesakes: Dylan Baker, an American film and TV actor famous for his role in the 1987 film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
- Popularity: Baker was #44 in the 2010 U.S. census, shared by roughly 420,000 people.
Bennett
Bennett is the medieval English form of Benedict, from Latin benedictus, meaning blessed. Saint Benedict of Nursia founded the monastic order that carried the name across Europe, and English speakers wore it down to Bennet and then Bennett. Scottish branches of the family settled around Roxburghshire on the border and still claim its tartan. Jane Austen gave the shorter spelling a permanent place in English fiction with the Bennet sisters of Pride and Prejudice, though the doubled T is by far the more common surname in the United States.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman, Gaelic
- Meaning: Blessed
- Pronunciation: bEH-niht
- Variations: Bennet, Benett, Benet, Benedict
- Namesakes: Naftali Bennett, an Israeli politician who served as prime minister of Israel from June 2021 to June 2022.
- Popularity: Bennett ranked #86 in the 2010 U.S. census with about 248,000 bearers, well ahead of the rarer spelling Bennet.
Brooks
Brooks began as a topographic name for a family living beside a stream, from Old English broc. The final S is possessive rather than plural, marking the household at the brook. Among English-speaking Ashkenazi Jewish families, Brooks was often adopted as an Anglicized stand-in for the Hebrew name Baruch, meaning blessed, which is why the same spelling can point to two completely different family histories. Similar water names run through Swedish surnames such as Backlund. Brook without the S is the older British form.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Residing near a stream or brook
- Pronunciation: brUUks, BRUWKS
- Variations: Brook, Broocks, Broks
- Namesakes: Meredith Ann Brooks, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist known for her solo album Blurring the Edges, which earned her a Grammy Award nomination.
- Popularity: Brooks came in at #82 in the 2010 U.S. census, carried by roughly 252,000 people.
Brown
Brown started as a nickname for hair, complexion, or the color of a person’s usual clothing, at a time when a village needed some way to tell three men named John apart. Old English brun and Old Norse brunn both feed into it, and the Gaelic donn produced the same meaning by a different route. The Scottish spelling Broun and the German Braun are cousins rather than strangers. Brown ranks in the top five in the United States, Britain, and Australia, which makes it one of the most reliably common surnames in the English-speaking world. The Brown clan motto, rendered in English, is let majesty flourish. Because the nickname arose wherever a village had a dark-haired John to distinguish, most Browns share a name and nothing else.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: The son of Brun
- Pronunciation: brAWn
- Variations: Braun, Browne, Broun, Breun, Bruun, Bruan, Brun, Bruene, Brohn
- Namesakes: Margaret (Molly) Brown, an American socialite who survived the sinking of the Titanic and inspired the 1960s musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
- Popularity: Brown was the fourth most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with more than 1.4 million bearers.
Campbell
Campbell comes from Scots Gaelic caimbeul, joining cam, crooked, and beul, mouth. It began as a personal nickname and hardened into the name of one of the largest Highland clans, whose seat is Inveraray Castle in Argyll. An Irish line arrived separately from Mac Cathmhaoil, son of the battle chief. Clan Campbell’s long rivalry with the MacDonalds is still a live subject in Scottish history, which gives the surname more folklore than most.
- Origin: Scottish, Irish
- Meaning: Crooked or wry mouth
- Pronunciation: kAEm-buhl
- Variations: Cambell, MacCampbell, McCampbell
- Namesakes: Julia Campbell, an American film and TV actress famous for her role in the film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
- Popularity: Campbell ranked #47 in the 2010 U.S. census with roughly 386,000 bearers, and it remains one of Scotland’s best-known names.
Carter
Carter is an occupational name for a man who hauled goods by cart, from Anglo-Norman French caretier. Before railways, carters moved nearly everything that mattered, so the name spread through every English county. It has become a popular first name for boys in the United States in recent decades, which means plenty of children now answer to it at both ends. Cartwright, the maker of the carts, is its close occupational cousin.
- Origin: Celtic
- Meaning: Carrier
- Pronunciation: kAHr-ter
- Variations: McCarter, Cartier
- Namesakes: Kayli Carter, an American actress known for her roles in the films Bad Education and Private Life.
- Popularity: Carter was #49 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 377,000 people carrying it.
Castillo
Castillo is Spanish for castle, from Latin castellum, and it began as a place name rather than a claim to nobility. Medieval Iberia was crowded with fortified hilltop settlements, and a family that moved away from one was identified by it ever after. Some lines took the name from a town called Castillo, others from living in the shadow of the local keep.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Castle
- Pronunciation: kaas-TEE-yoh
- Variations: Castillos, Castell, Castelo, Del Castillo
- Namesakes: Ruben Castillo, an American jurist who served as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and was the first Latino appointed to that court.
- Popularity: Castillo ranked #93 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 230,000 bearers.
Chavez
Chavez is the Spanish form of the Portuguese Chaves, a town in northern Portugal whose name comes from Latin claves, keys. The Romans called the settlement Aquae Flaviae, and the later name preserved the sense of a gateway between provinces. Because llaves also means keys in Spanish, the surname is sometimes read as an occupational name for a locksmith. In Peru a separate community adopted Chavez as an adaptation of a Chinese surname meaning plum. Cesar Chavez made it a household name in American labor history.
- Origin: Portuguese, Spanish
- Meaning: Keys
- Pronunciation: chAA-vEHz
- Variations: Chaves
- Namesakes: Julio Cesar Chavez, a Mexican former professional boxer famous for being a multiple world champion in three weight divisions during his boxing career.
- Popularity: Chavez ranked #83 in the 2010 U.S. census with about 251,000 bearers, and it is among the most recognizable Mexican surnames in the country.
Clark
Clark comes from Latin clericus by way of Old English clerc, and it originally meant a man in holy orders. Since clergy were often the only people in a village who could read and write, the word slid sideways into meaning scribe or scholar, and then into the office clerk we know today. Families took it as a hereditary surname from the 14th century onward. Clark and Clerk are both recognized as septs of Clan Cameron and Clan MacPherson in Scotland. The E spelling, Clarke, is more common in Ireland and England than in the United States. Clark is also one of the surnames most often adopted as a first name for boys, though it has faded since its mid-century peak.
- Origin: English, Irish
- Meaning: Clerk, penman, scribe
- Pronunciation: klAHrk
- Variations: Clarke, Clerk, Clerke
- Namesakes: Octavius Rene Clark, an American competitive runner known for winning the gold medal in the 800-meter event at the 1991 Pan American Games.
- Popularity: Clark was #27 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by roughly 563,000 people.
Collins
Collins has an Irish source and an English one, and most American families cannot easily tell which is theirs. The Irish line comes from O Coileain, descendant of Coilean, a word for a young hound or whelp. The English line is patronymic, meaning son of Colin, where Colin is a medieval pet form of Nicholas. A separate Gaelic reading points to cuilean, darling. Michael Collins the revolutionary and Michael Collins the Apollo 11 astronaut both carried it, which is a fair sample of the name’s reach.
- Origin: Gaelic, English
- Meaning: Son of Collin, holly
- Pronunciation: KAH-Lihns
- Variations: Collin, Colling, Collings, Coling, Collen, Collens, Collis, Coliss, Coleson
- Namesakes: Michael Collins, an American astronaut famous for being part of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed on the moon.
- Popularity: Collins ranked #59 in the 2010 U.S. census, with close to 330,000 bearers.
Cook
Cook is an occupational surname from Old English coc, itself borrowed from Latin coquus. In a medieval household the cook ran a serious operation, feeding staff, guests, and sometimes an entire garrison, so the title carried real standing. The name is spelled Cooke in much of England and Ireland. Captain James Cook, who charted New Zealand and much of Australia’s east coast, is the name’s most travelled bearer, and the coat of arms granted to him shows a globe with the Pacific turned toward the viewer.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Cook
- Pronunciation: KUWK
- Variations: Cooke
- Namesakes: James Cook, a British navigator famous for discovering and charting New Zealand and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
- Popularity: Cook was #65 in the 2010 U.S. census, carried by about 303,000 people.
Cooper
A cooper made barrels, and before cardboard and plastic almost everything traveled in one. The word comes through Middle English couper from Middle Dutch kuper, related to kup, a tub or vessel. Coopering was a skilled trade with its own guilds, and the surname followed the craft into England, the Low Countries, and Germany, where the equivalent is Kiefer or Kupfer. Cooper has since become a common first name for boys, helped along by its easy two-syllable bounce.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Barrel maker
- Pronunciation: kOO-per
- Variations: Kooper, Koeper, Kupfer, Coopers, Cooperman, Coper, Coober
- Namesakes: Quade Santini Cooper, a New Zealand-born professional rugby player who played ruby for Australia internationally.
- Popularity: Cooper ranked #70 in the 2010 U.S. census, shared by roughly 281,000 people.
Cox
Cox is usually a patronymic built on Cock, a medieval nickname for a young man who strutted or rose early, with the S ending marking son of. A second explanation is topographic, from Old English cocc, a heap or small hill. A Welsh route runs through coch, meaning red, for a red-haired ancestor.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: From the hills, little one, the Red
- Pronunciation: kAAks
- Variations: Cocks
- Namesakes: Alaqua Cox, a Native American actress known for her role in the Marvel Disney series Hawkeye.
- Popularity: Cox came in at #78 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 261,000 bearers.
Cruz
Cruz means cross, from Latin crux, and it began as a religious name as often as a geographic one. Some families took it from living beside a wayside cross or crossroads shrine; others received it at baptism, or through a church dedicated to the Holy Cross. Foundlings raised by religious houses in Spain and Portugal were frequently given Cruz as well. The name traveled with both empires, which is why it is common today in Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Brazil in its Portuguese spelling.
- Origin: Spanish, Portuguese
- Meaning: Cross, dweller near a cross,
- Pronunciation: krOOz
- Variations: Cross, Cruces, De Cruz, De La Cruz, Da Cruz, Cruzado, Cruse, Cruise
- Namesakes: Raúl Ceferino Cruz, an Argentine chess player known as the World Junior Chess Championship medalist in 1951.
- Popularity: Cruz ranked #57 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 334,000 people carrying it.
Davis
Welsh families adopted patronymics enthusiastically and David, or Dafydd, was the national saint, which makes Davis one of the great Welsh names. The Hebrew root behind David is usually read as beloved, and Davis is the son of David. Davys was the earlier English spelling when the surname first appears as a “D” surname in the 14th century. Davies remains the standard form in Wales while Davis dominates in the United States, a split that can tell you which side of the Atlantic a branch settled on.
- Origin: English, Welsh
- Meaning: Son of David, beloved
- Pronunciation: dAY-vihs
- Variations: Davies, David, Davidson, Davison, Daves, Dawson, Dawes, Day, Dakin
- Namesakes: Miles Dewey Davis III, an American trumpeter and composer known for his influence in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
- Popularity: Davis was the eighth most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.12 million bearers.
Diaz
Diaz is a patronymic meaning son of Diego, formed with the old Spanish ending ez. Diego is a knot of a name: it likely comes from Santiago, the Spanish form of Saint James, though a competing theory ties it to Latin didacus, meaning taught. A third reading connects the surname to dias, days, which is how the Portuguese form is usually explained. Bartolomeu Dias, the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa, carried that Portuguese spelling. Both versions are now scattered across Latin America, the Philippines, and the United States.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Diego
- Pronunciation: DEE-ahs
- Variations: Dias, Diez
- Namesakes: Cameron Michelle Diaz, an American actress known for her roles in There’s Something About Mary, Charlie’s Angels, and the Shrek films.
- Popularity: Diaz ranked #55 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by roughly 348,000 people, far more than the rarer Portuguese spelling Dias.
Edwards
Edward joins the Old English ead, wealth or fortune, with weard, guardian, and Edwards is his son. Edward the Confessor was canonized in 1161, and the cult of the saint kept the given name alive through the Norman period when most Anglo-Saxon names were dropped. Three medieval kings named Edward sealed its popularity. Welsh families adopted it widely during the Tudor era, when English-style fixed surnames replaced the older patronymic system, which is why so many Edwardses trace back to Wales rather than England.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Son of Edward
- Pronunciation: EHd-werdz
- Variations: Edwardes, Edwardson, Edward, Edwart
- Namesakes: Sir Gareth Owen Edwards, a Welsh former rugby union player recognized as the greatest player in Welsh rugby history.
- Popularity: Edwards was #58 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 332,000 bearers, and it remains one of the most common surnames in Wales.
Evans
Evans is the anglicized son of Ifan, and Ifan is the Welsh form of John. Welsh F is pronounced like an English V, so Ifan naturally became Evan on English-speaking tongues and Evans once the possessive S was added. The surname only became fixed after Tudor administrators pushed Welsh families away from the old patronymic system, where a man’s second name changed with every generation. That late fixing is why a handful of Welsh surnames, Evans among them, are shared by such enormous numbers of people.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Son of Evan
- Pronunciation: EH-vuhnz
- Variations: Evins, Evens, Evan, Evian
- Namesakes: Indiana Rose Evans, an Australian actress known for her roles in Home and Away and Blue Lagoon: The Awakening.
- Popularity: Evans ranked #53 in the 2010 U.S. census with roughly 356,000 bearers, and it is among the most common surnames in Wales.
Flores
Flores means flowers, from Latin flos. It works as a patronymic from the medieval given name Floro, and also as a religious name tied to Easter, since Pascua Florida is the Spanish name for Palm Sunday. Records place the family in Spain from the 12th century. The name traveled to Mexico, Central America, and the Philippines with Spanish settlement, and it now sits comfortably in the American top 50.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Flower, son of Floro
- Pronunciation: Floor-ez
- Variations: Florez, Floriz, Floraz Flor, Folran, Flori, Floris
- Namesakes: Brenda Eunice Flores Munoz, a Mexican long-distance runner known as a double gold medallist at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.
- Popularity: Flores was #40 in the 2010 U.S. census, carried by about 434,000 people, and it is one of the most widespread American surnames of Spanish origin.
Foster
Foster has at least four plausible origins, which is unusual even for an English surname. The most cited is a worn-down form of Forster or Forester, a keeper of the woods and still a common surname beginning with F. It can also come from Fuster, a maker of pack saddles, from Old French fustier, a worker in wood. A third route is Fewster, a shearer of cloth, and a fourth is the literal sense of a foster parent, someone who raised a child not their own. Northumberland records show the Forster spelling shortening steadily through the 1500s, so many families crossed to America with the modern form already in place.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: One who keeps the forest
- Pronunciation: FAWS-tar
- Variations: Forster, Forrest, Forest, Forester, Forrester
- Namesakes: Adrianna Foster, a prominent Mexican singer of soul, jazz, and pop, known as the Voice of Mexico.
- Popularity: Foster ranked #99 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 228,000 bearers.
Garcia
Garcia began as a personal name in early medieval Iberia and only later hardened into a surname. It appears in Christian kingdom records from 843 A.D., borne by kings of Navarre and Leon long before ordinary families adopted it. The root is probably Basque rather than Latin, with young or bear among the suggested meanings, though no explanation has won the argument. Garcia is now the most common surname in Spain and one of the most common in Mexico, Cuba, and the Philippines. In the United States it has climbed steadily with every census since 1990.
- Origin: Iberian, Spanish
- Meaning: Descendant or son of Garcia
- Pronunciation: gahr-see-ah
- Variations: Garci, Garza, Garces, Gacia, Gacias, Garsea, Gassia
- Namesakes: Adam Gabriel Garcia, an Australian stage actor best known for lead roles in the musicals Saturday Night Fever and Kiss Me Kate.
- Popularity: Garcia was the sixth most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.17 million bearers, the highest of any surname of Spanish origin.
Gomez
Gomez is a patronymic from the medieval given name Gome or Gomo, itself shortened from the Visigothic Gomesano. The Germanic root guma simply means man. Portuguese families use Gomes, and the two spellings mark the border between the Iberian languages more reliably than most surnames do.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Man, son of
- Pronunciation: gOH-mehz
- Variations: Gomes, Gomis, or Gometz
- Namesakes: Vernon Louis Gomez, an American professional baseball player famous for being a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees.
- Popularity: Gomez ranked #51 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 366,000 people carrying it.
Gonzalez
Gonzalez means son of Gonzalo, and Gonzalo comes from the medieval Latin Gundisalvus, a Latinized Germanic name. The first element, gunth, means battle or war; the second is disputed, with elf and safe among the candidates. Like most Spanish surnames ending in ez, it fixed itself during the long centuries when Castilian scribes needed a way to distinguish families in land records. Gonzales without the Z is the older Castilian spelling and still turns up in New Mexico, where Spanish settlement predates the United States by two centuries.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Gonzalo
- Pronunciation: gohn-zAA-lehz
- Variations: Gonzales, Conzalaz, Gonzalas, Gonsalas, Goncalez, Gonsales, Goncales
- Namesakes: Sofia Gonzalez, a Swiss Paralympic athlete and a European bronze medalist in the 100m sprint.
- Popularity: Gonzalez was #13 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by about 841,000 people, and it is the second most common surname in Spain.
Gray
Gray works as a nickname and as a place name, and both readings have good evidence behind them. The nickname sense is straightforward: gray hair, a gray beard, or gray clothing. The habitational sense traces to Graye in Calvados, Normandy, from a Roman personal name Gratus, meaning welcome or pleasing, and Norman lords carried it into Scotland where the family took root around Fife and Angus. The E spelling, Grey, is more common in England, and the two have been swapping places in parish registers for six hundred years.
- Origin: French, Scottish, English
- Meaning: Gray-haired
- Pronunciation: grAY
- Variations: Grey
- Namesakes: Linda Ann Gray, an American actress best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the CBS TV drama series Dallas.
- Popularity: Gray ranked #87 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 246,000 bearers.
Green
Green is a topographic name for a family that lived beside the village green, the common grazing land at the center of an English settlement. Old English grene shares a root with grass and grow. A second line is Jewish, adopted in the 19th century as a translation or shortening of German and Yiddish names such as Grunbaum and Greenberg. Ireland favors the Greene spelling. Between the two sources, the name turns up in almost every community that speaks English. Greenwood, Greenhill, and Greenway grew from the same habit of naming a family for the ground it lived on.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Green
- Pronunciation: grEEn
- Variations: Greene
- Namesakes: Aliza Green, an American chef and writer known as a pioneer of the farm-to-table movement, which began in Philadelphia.
- Popularity: Green was #41 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 430,000 bearers.
Gutierrez
Gutierre is a Spanish form of the Germanic name Gunther or Walter depending on which scholar you follow, and Gutierrez is the son of Gutierre. The elements usually given are gunth, battle, and hari, army, which points to a warlord’s name carried into Iberia by the Visigoths. Gutierre was still a working given name in medieval Castile before it faded and left only the surname behind. The name is now widespread in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and the American Southwest.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Gutierre
- Pronunciation: goo-tee-EH-rehs
- Variations: Gutierres, Guiterrez, Gutier, Guterres
- Namesakes: Carlos Gutierrez, a Cuban-born American business executive who served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2005 to 2009.
- Popularity: Gutierrez ranked #67 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 293,000 bearers.
Hall
Hall is one of the oldest surname types in England, describing where a person worked rather than what they did. The hall was the great room of a manor house, and anyone employed there, from steward to servant, could be known by it. Old English heall and Old High German halla share the same root. Because nearly every English district had a manor, the name arose independently in dozens of places, which is why Halls across the country are rarely related. The Hall family motto is usually translated as through difficulties to heaven. That independence of origin also means a Hall coat of arms belongs to one family line, never to everyone who shares the name.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Hall, manor, hero
- Pronunciation: hAWl
- Variations: Halle, Haall, Haul, Haull, Hawl, Holl
- Namesakes: Manly Palmer Hall, a Canadian author, lecturer, astrologer, mystic, and freemason, best known for his writing titled The Secret Teachings of All Ages.
- Popularity: Hall was #45 in the 2010 U.S. census, carried by about 407,000 people.
Harris
Harry was the everyday English pronunciation of Henry for most of the Middle Ages, and Harris is his son. Henry comes from Germanic elements meaning home and ruler, brought over by the Normans and worn smooth by five centuries of English mouths. An Irish line arrives separately as an anglicization of O hEarchadha in County Mayo. There is also a Jewish adoption of the name in the 19th century, chosen for its familiar English sound. Harris has been a top 30 American surname since the first census counts.
- Origin: Irish, English
- Meaning: Son of Harry
- Pronunciation: hEH-rihs
- Variations: Harrison, Haris, Harries, Harriss, Harrys, Harys, Herrice, Herries
- Namesakes: Bernard Anthony Harris Jr, an American astronaut known as the first African American to walk in space.
- Popularity: Harris ranked #25 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 624,000 bearers.
Hernandez
Hernandez means son of Hernando, the Spanish variant of Fernando. The name is Visigothic in origin, built from Germanic elements usually read as journey and bold, so the sense lands near daring traveler. Ferdinand of Aragon, whose marriage to Isabella of Castile united Spain, gave the given name enormous prestige in the 15th century, and the patronymic multiplied behind it. Hernandez and Fernandez are the same name with a regional consonant shift, not separate families. It is now the most common surname in Mexico and one of the fastest climbers in the United States.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Hernando
- Pronunciation: her-NAAN-dehs
- Variations: Hernandes, Fernandez, Fernandes, Hernandiz
- Namesakes: Keith Hernandez, an American baseball first baseman who shared the 1979 National League Most Valuable Player award and won 11 consecutive Gold Gloves.
- Popularity: Hernandez was the 11th most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census with more than 1.04 million bearers, up from 15th place in 2000. (2)
Hill
Hill is a topographic surname from Old English hyll, given to a family living on or near high ground. It is about as literal as English surnames get, which is why it appeared independently across the whole country. A small number of Hills descend instead from German Hild, an element meaning battle, brought over by later immigrants. In Scotland the equivalent names use Gaelic roots such as beinn, which is why Scottish hill names look nothing like the English ones. Hill is also one of the plainest surnames to trace in old records, since a parish clerk could spell it only one way.
- Origin: Scottish, English
- Meaning: A person who lived on a hill
- Pronunciation: hIHl
- Variations: Hills, Hille, Hyll, Hylle, Hille Hillemann, Hillmann, Hilmann
- Namesakes: Alfred Hawthorne Hill, an English comedian, actor, singer, and writer best known for his TV program The Benny Hill Show.
- Popularity: Hill was #39 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by about 435,000 people.
Howard
Howard has two strong candidates and no settled answer. One is the Anglo-Scandinavian personal name Haward, from Old Norse elements meaning high and guardian. The other is Old French Huard, from a Germanic name combining heart or mind with hardy. A third, less romantic possibility is hog ward, the man who minded the pigs, which shows how thoroughly a name’s status can change over six centuries. The Howards became one of England’s premier noble families as Dukes of Norfolk, and two Howard women married Henry VIII.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Braveheart, watchman
- Pronunciation: hAH-werd
- Variations: Hayward, Howardh, Howardd, Howeard
- Namesakes: Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, an English actor known for his roles in Mutiny on the Bounty and The Charge of the Light Brigade, among other films.
- Popularity: Howard ranked #75 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 265,000 bearers.
Hughes
Hughes means son of Hugh. The Germanic root hug means heart, mind, or spirit, and the Normans brought the name to Britain where it quickly outgrew its origins. In Wales the surname more often descends from Huw, a native form that scholars link to a word for fire or inspiration. Irish families arrived at Hughes from a different direction entirely, as an anglicization of O hAodha, descendant of Aodh, the name of a fire god. Three separate roots, one spelling.
- Origin: Celtic, Gaelic
- Meaning: Son of Hugh, fire
- Pronunciation: hyOOz
- Variations: Hugh, Hughe
- Namesakes: Miko John Hughes, an American actor known for his film roles in Kindergarten Cop, Apollo 13, Spawn, and Mercury Rising.
- Popularity: Hughes was #90 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 236,000 bearers, and it is among the leading surnames in Wales.
Jackson
Jack was the medieval English pet form of John rather than of Jacob, despite what the spelling suggests, and Jackson is the son of Jack. The route runs through Jankin, a diminutive of John, which wore down to Jack. That makes Jackson a close cousin of Johnson. The name is especially common among African American families, many of whom took it after emancipation, and it ranks far higher in the United States than in England as a result.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Son of Jack
- Pronunciation: JAEK-suhn
- Variations: Jacksen, Jacson, Jaxon, Jaxson
- Namesakes: Jeremy Dunn Jackson, an American actor, and singer known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the TV show Baywatch.
- Popularity: Jackson ranked #19 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by roughly 708,000 people.
James
James descends from the Hebrew Jacob by way of Latin Iacomus, a late spoken variant that also produced the Spanish Jaime and the Italian Giacomo. The traditional gloss for Jacob is supplanter, from the story of Jacob and Esau. English families first recorded it as a surname in Surrey, and Welsh families adopted it heavily during the same Tudor period that produced so many Evanses and Edwardses. Seamus is the Irish equivalent.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Supplanter
- Pronunciation: JAYMZ
- Variations: Jaimes, Jammes, Jaymes, Jamies
- Namesakes: Bradley James, an English actor known for starring in the TV series Merlin, The Magnificent, and The Liberator.
- Popularity: James was #85 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 249,000 bearers.
Jimenez
Jimenez means son of Jimeno, a medieval Iberian given name whose origins are genuinely disputed. Some scholars trace it to Basque seme, meaning son, while others connect it to a Hebrew root by way of Simon. The old spelling was Ximenez, with the X pronounced as a soft SH, and Spanish orthographic reform shifted it to J while the sound moved to a throaty H. Cardinal Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, regent of Castile, carried the older form. Both spellings survive, with Ximenes more common in Portugal and among Sephardic families.
- Origin: Spanish, Basque
- Meaning: Son of Jimeno
- Pronunciation: hee-MEH-nehs
- Variations: Ximenez, Gimenez, Jimenes, Ximenes
- Namesakes: Juan Ramon Jimenez, a Spanish poet who won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature and wrote the beloved prose work Platero y Yo.
- Popularity: Jimenez closed out the top 100 at #100 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 227,000 bearers.
Johnson
Johnson means son of John, and John was the most popular male given name in Christian Europe for the better part of a thousand years. Two saints carried it, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, and hundreds more followed. That saturation is exactly why the patronymic became so common: when half the men in a village are named John, their sons need the surname. A separate Irish line anglicized MacSeain, son of Sean, to Johnson as well. The Scandinavian forms Johansson, Johansen, and Jansen were mostly simplified at American ports, which is why so many Midwestern Johnsons are Swedish or Norwegian rather than English.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Son of John
- Pronunciation: JAHN-suhn
- Variations: Johnston, Jonson, Jonsen, Johanson, Johnstone, Johnsson, Johannsan, Jensen, MacShane, McShane, McSeain
- Namesakes: Brian Johnson, an English singer, and songwriter known as the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC.
- Popularity: Johnson was the second most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.93 million bearers.
Jones
Jones is the Welsh answer to Johnson. It comes from the medieval Latin Johannes, filtered through Welsh speech to Sion and then given the English possessive S. Wales adopted fixed surnames late, in the 16th and 17th centuries, and did so from a very small pool of first names, which concentrated a huge share of the population into a handful of surnames. Whole Welsh valleys still carry three or four names between them. The habit of adding an occupation or a house name to tell one Jones from another survives in Welsh conversation today.
- Origin: Celtic
- Meaning: Son of John
- Pronunciation: jOHnz
- Variations: Johns, Johnson
- Namesakes: Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, a Welsh singer who began his career with a string of top 10 hits in the 1960s, has remained very popular since.
- Popularity: Jones ranked fifth in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 1.43 million bearers, and it is the most common surname in Wales.
Kelly
Kelly comes from O Ceallaigh, descendant of Ceallach, an early Irish given name usually read as bright-headed or, in a competing reading, strife. At least seven unrelated Irish septs used the name, which is why Kellys from Galway, Meath, and Derry share a surname but no ancestor. The O prefix was dropped under English pressure in the 16th and 17th centuries and only partly restored later. A small English strand comes from Kelly in Devon, a place name related to Cornish kelli, a grove. It is now a first name for girls as often as a surname.
- Origin: Gaelic, Irish
- Meaning: Descendant of war, warrior
- Pronunciation: KEH-lee
- Variations: Kelley, Kellie, O’Kelly, O’Kelley, Kelli
- Namesakes: Craig Kelly, an English actor and voice-over narrator known for his roles in the TV series Queer as Folk and Coronation Street.
- Popularity: Kelly was #74 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 267,000 bearers, and it is one of the most common surnames in Ireland.
Kim
Kim is written with the character for gold or metal, read as gim in Korean. It accounted for 21.5 percent of the South Korean population at the 2015 census, a share no surname reaches in any Western country. Korean surnames are tied to a bon-gwan, an ancestral seat, and the 2000 census recorded hundreds of separate Kim lineages, so two Kims from different seats are considered unrelated even though they share the name. Romanization varies: Gim is closer to the Korean sound, but Kim is the spelling that traveled. Because Korean surnames are so concentrated, given names carry almost all of the work of telling people apart, and Korean parents choose them with corresponding care.
- Origin: Korean, Vietnamese
- Meaning: Gold, iron
- Pronunciation: kihm
- Variations: Khim, Keim, Kime, Kimm, Keum
- Namesakes: Alan Sun Kim, an American child actor known for his role in the drama film Minari for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
- Popularity: Kim ranked #77 in the 2010 U.S. census with roughly 262,000 bearers, and it is the most common surname in Korea, where about one person in five carries it.
King
King comes from Old English cyning, and almost nobody who carries it descends from royalty. It began as a nickname for a man who carried himself grandly, or who played the king in a pageant, or who worked in a royal household. Some Irish Kings are anglicized from Conroy and O Mulconry, unrelated Gaelic names that a clerk translated rather than transcribed. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the surname a meaning in American life that has nothing to do with its etymology.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Tribal leader, ruler
- Pronunciation: kIHng
- Variations: Kinge, Conroy, O’Conry, O’Mulconry
- Namesakes: Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and activist known as one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement.
- Popularity: King was #34 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by about 465,000 people.
Lee
Lee is two names sharing one spelling. The English Lee comes from Old English leah, a woodland clearing or meadow, and produced the variants Leigh, Lea, and Legh. The Asian Lee is a romanization of the Chinese Li, written with the character for plum tree, which was the royal surname of the Tang dynasty and is now one of the most common surnames on earth. Korean Yi and Vietnamese Ly are the same name in different mouths. A third strand comes from the Irish O Liathain. In the United States all of these arrive at the same two letters, so the surname says almost nothing about ancestry on its own.
- Origin: Asian, English
- Meaning: Plum tree, forest clearing
- Pronunciation: lEE
- Variations: Lea, Leh, Leigh, Lay, Lees, Leese, Leighe, Leagh, Li
- Namesakes: Bruce Lee, a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor, and filmmaker credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts.
- Popularity: Lee ranked #21 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 693,000 bearers, and it is one of the few American surnames drawn in large numbers from two separate continents.
Lewis
Lewis is the English form of the Frankish Chlodovech, which became Ludwig in German and Louis in French, from elements meaning famous and battle. The Normans brought it to Britain, where it settled into Lewis. In Wales the surname often stands in for Llywelyn, an entirely native name that shares no root at all; Tudor-era clerks simply picked the nearest English-looking spelling. A Scottish and Irish line runs through Mac Lughaidh, tied to the god name Lugh. The Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides adds yet another possible source.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Son of Lughaidh, renowned, famous battle
- Pronunciation: LUU-ihs
- Variations: Louis, Louys
- Namesakes: Frederick Carlton Lewis, an American former track and field athlete famous for winning nine Olympic gold medals.
- Popularity: Lewis was #29 in the 2010 U.S. census, carried by about 532,000 people.
Long
Long began as a nickname in England for a notably tall man, from Old English lang. An Irish line anglicizes the Gaelic name O Longain, descendant of Longan. Long is also a common romanization of a Chinese surname written with the character for dragon, and of the Vietnamese Long, which is why the census figure combines families with nothing in common. Norman French le long feeds the English strand too, arriving after 1066.
- Origin: English, Irish, French, Chinese
- Meaning: Tall, descendant of Longan
- Pronunciation: l-ONG (English), LUWNG (Chinese)
- Variations: Longe, Lang, Delong, Laing
- Namesakes: Nia Long, an American actress best known for her role in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air sitcom.
- Popularity: Long ranked #97 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 229,000 bearers.
Lopez
Lopez is a patronymic surname starting with L meaning son of Lope. Lope comes from Latin lupus, wolf, and was a genuinely popular given name in medieval Castile, where naming a child for a fierce animal was a wish rather than a joke. The Portuguese equivalent is Lopes. The name is now among the most common in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and the Philippines.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Lope
- Pronunciation: LOH-pehz
- Variations: Lopes, Lopaz, Lopas
- Namesakes: George Lopez, an American stand-up comedian and actor known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez.
- Popularity: Lopez was #12 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 875,000 bearers.
Martin
Martin traces to Latin Martinus, a name derived from Mars, the Roman god of war. Saint Martin of Tours, the Roman soldier who cut his cloak in half for a beggar, made it one of the most widely used names in Christian Europe, which is why it appears as a surname in France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, and Scotland alike. The Gaelic form Mac Giolla Mhartain means devotee of Saint Martin rather than son of a man named Martin. Scottish branches produced McMartin. Few surnames are this common in this many languages at once.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Of Mars, warlike, warrior
- Pronunciation: mAHr-tihn
- Variations: Marten, Martine, Martain, Martyn, Merten
- Namesakes: Pamela Sue Martin, an American actress known for her roles in the TV series The Hardy Boys – Nancy Drew Mysteries and the ABC soap opera Dynasty.
- Popularity: Martin ranked #20 in the 2010 U.S. census with roughly 703,000 bearers, and it is the single most common surname in France.
Martinez
Martinez is a patronymic “M” surname meaning son of Martin, formed with the Castilian ending ez. Behind it stands the same Latin Martinus and the same Roman god of war, arriving in Iberia through the cult of Saint Martin. Portuguese speakers use Martins, and Catalan speakers use Martinez with a different stress.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Martín, son of Martino
- Pronunciation: maar-tEE-nehs
- Variations: Martines, Martins, Martinson, Martin
- Namesakes: Adolfo Larrue Martínez III, an American actor, and singer known for his roles in the TV soap operas Santa Barbara, General Hospital, One Life to Live, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Days of Our Lives.
- Popularity: Martinez was the 10th most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.06 million bearers.
Mendoza
Mendoza is Basque rather than Castilian, built from mendi, mountain, and a second element usually read as cold. It began as a place name in Alava, in the Basque Country, and became the surname of one of Spain’s most powerful noble houses. Members of that family founded the Argentine city of Mendoza, which is why the name now marks a wine region as well as a lineage. Mendieta and Mendia are separate Basque surnames built from the same mendi root. Basque surnames are almost always geographic in this way, describing a farmstead or landform rather than an ancestor.
- Origin: Basque, Spanish
- Meaning: Cold mountain
- Pronunciation: men-DOH-saa
- Variations: Mendosa, Mendonza
- Namesakes: Eduardo Mendoza, a Spanish novelist awarded the Cervantes Prize in 2016 for a body of work that includes The City of Marvels.
- Popularity: Mendoza ranked #88 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 243,000 bearers.
Miller
Miller is an occupational name for the person who ground the village grain. Milling was one of the few medieval trades that required capital, since a mill was expensive to build, and the miller was often both essential and resented, a stock figure of suspicion in Chaucer and in folk song. The English form competes with the northern Milner and the Scottish Millar. Many American Millers are not English at all but German, having arrived as Mueller or Moeller and adopted the English equivalent.
- Origin: English, Scottish, German, French, Italian
- Meaning: Milling grain
- Pronunciation: mIHler, MIL-ar
- Variations: Millar, Mills, Mullar, Mahler, Mueller, Moeller
- Namesakes: Arthur Miller, an American playwright known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Death of a Salesman.
- Popularity: Miller was the seventh most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.16 million bearers.
Mitchell
Mitchell usually means son of Michael, from the Hebrew name asking who is like God. The Norman French form Michel is the direct parent of the English spelling. A separate source is Middle English michel, meaning big, which produced the same surname as a nickname for a large man.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Son of Michael
- Pronunciation: MICH-al, MIH-chuhl
- Variations: Michell Michill, MacMichael, Mitchel, Mitchelson
- Namesakes: Beverley Ann Mitchell, an American actress and country music singer known for her role as Lucy Camden on the TV series 7th Heaven.
- Popularity: Mitchell ranked #48 in the 2010 U.S. census, held by roughly 384,000 people.
Moore
Moore is at least three names wearing one coat. The English Moore is topographic, from Old English mor, a moor or marsh. The Irish Moore anglicizes O Mordha, descendant of Mordha, whose name means stately or noble, and that sept ruled in Laois. A third source is a nickname from Old French more, meaning dark-complexioned. The spellings Muir in Scotland and More in older records are close relatives.
- Origin: Gaelic, Irish
- Meaning: Stately and noble
- Pronunciation: MUWR
- Variations: Mores, More, Moars, Moor, Moar, Muir
- Namesakes: Demi Gene Moore, an American actress known for her roles in Blame It on Rio, St. Elmo’s Fire, and About Last Night.
- Popularity: Moore was #18 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 724,000 bearers.
Morales
Morales is a topographic name for a family living near mulberry trees, from Spanish moral. Mulberries mattered in medieval Spain because silkworms feed on their leaves, and Andalusian silk was a serious industry under Muslim and later Christian rule. The plural ending points to a stand of trees rather than a single one.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Moral
- Pronunciation: moh-rAA-lehs
- Variations: Moralez, Moral, Moreira, Mora, and Morais
- Namesakes: Erik Isaac Morales Elvira, a former Mexican professional boxer famous for being the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win four world championships in four different weight classes.
- Popularity: Morales ranked #63 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 312,000 bearers.
Morgan
Morgan comes from the Old Welsh personal name Morcant, built from elements usually read as sea and circle or bright. It is genuinely ancient, appearing in Welsh records well before surnames were hereditary anywhere in Britain. A Scottish line links to Clan Mackay, and an Irish line to O Muireagain. Morgan works equally well for girls and boys as a first name, which has kept it in circulation far beyond Wales.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Borne from the sea, son of Morgan
- Pronunciation: mAWr-guhn
- Variations: Morgain, Morgann, Morghan
- Namesakes: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, an American actor known for his role as Negan in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead.
- Popularity: Morgan was #69 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 286,000 bearers, and it is one of the oldest surnames in Wales.
Morris
Morris descends from Maurice, an Old French name from the Latin name Mauritius, meaning dark or Moorish. Saint Maurice, an Egyptian commander in the Roman army, carried it across Europe. In Wales the surname more often stands in for the native Meurig, and in Ireland it can anglicize O Muirghis. Morse and Morrice are close variants. The Morris dance, whatever its true origin, kept the word familiar in English villages for centuries.
- Origin: English, Scottish, French
- Meaning: Dark-skinned
- Pronunciation: mAW-rihs
- Variations: Morriss, Morish, Morissh, Morce, Morse, Morrice, Morice
- Namesakes: William Morris, a British writer and artist known as one of the principal founders of the British Arts and Crafts Movement.
- Popularity: Morris ranked #62 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 319,000 bearers.
Murphy
Murphy anglicizes two related Gaelic names, O Murchadha and Mac Murchadha, both built on Murchadh, from muir, sea, and cath, battle. Sea warrior is the usual gloss, and it fits a people whose coastal kingdoms lived by raiding and trading. Separate Murphy septs held land in Wexford, Cork, and Armagh, so the name is not a single family. Irish emigration after the Great Famine carried it into every English-speaking country. The O prefix, stripped under English administration, has been partly restored in Ireland since independence, so O’Murphy and Murphy can be the same family two generations apart.
- Origin: Irish, Scottish Gaelic
- Meaning: Sea Warrior
- Pronunciation: mER-fee
- Variations: Murphey, Morphy, O’Morchoe, McMurphy, O’Murphy, O’Murchu
- Namesakes: Audie Leon Murphy, an American soldier known as one of World War II’s most decorated American combat soldiers.
- Popularity: Murphy was #64 in the 2010 U.S. census with about 308,000 bearers, and it is the single most common surname in Ireland.
Myers
Myers has an English root and a German one that arrived at the same spelling by coincidence. The English Myers is a patronymic from mayer, a mayor or steward, or from Old French mire, a physician. The German Meyer, from Latin maior, described a tenant farmer who managed land for a lord and ranked well above an ordinary laborer. Jewish families also carried Meyer, from the Hebrew Meir, meaning one who shines. American immigration flattened Meyer, Mayer, and Meier into Myers in a single generation.
- Origin: English, German
- Meaning: Steward, bailiff, son of the mayor
- Pronunciation: mYE-erz
- Variations: Myer, Meyer, Meers, Mears, Meares, Myars, Myres, Miers, Miares
- Namesakes: Michael John Myers, a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, and director, famous for his numerous film awards.
- Popularity: Myers ranked #96 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 230,000 bearers.
Nelson
Neil comes from the Irish name Niall, usually read as champion or cloud, and Nelson is his son. Niall of the Nine Hostages, the semi-legendary high king, put the name at the root of several major Irish dynasties. Scandinavian settlers in England and Ireland absorbed it and carried it back north, which is how Nielsen and Nilsson developed in parallel. A minority reading has Nelson as son of Eleanor. Admiral Horatio Nelson made the surname a fixture in British naval history.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Son of Neil
- Pronunciation: NEL-suhn
- Variations: Neilson, Nealson, Nilson, Nilsen, Nilsson, Nielson
- Namesakes: Willie Hugh Nelson, an American singer-songwriter known as one of the most recognized country music artists.
- Popularity: Nelson was #43 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 425,000 bearers.
Nguyen
Nguyen is written with a Chinese character read ruan, adopted into Vietnamese during the long centuries of Chinese administration; the same character named an ancient state and a lute. Somewhere between a third and two in five Vietnamese people carry it, a concentration with a political explanation rather than a genealogical one: dynastic changes repeatedly pushed families to take the ruling house’s name for safety or favor, and the Nguyen dynasty held the throne from 1802 until 1945. Refugee resettlement after 1975 brought the name to the United States in large numbers, and it has climbed the census ranks with every count since. English speakers usually say something close to win, though the Vietnamese pronunciation carries a tone that English cannot reproduce.
- Origin: Vietnamese
- Meaning: From the character read ruan
- Pronunciation: WIHN, NGWEE-uhn
- Variations: Nguyễn, Ruan, Yuen
- Namesakes: Dat Nguyen, an American football linebacker who became the first Vietnamese American to play in the NFL and led the Dallas Cowboys in tackles for several seasons.
- Popularity: Nguyen ranked #38 in the 2010 U.S. census with about 438,000 bearers, up from #57 in 2000, one of the fastest climbs in the entire top 100.
Ortiz
Ortiz is a patronymic meaning son of Orti, a medieval Iberian given name related to Fortun, from Latin fortunius, fortunate. The name is strongly associated with Navarre and the Basque Country, where Orti was in ordinary use before Castilian naming habits spread. Some branches instead connect it to ortus, meaning born or risen.
- Origin: Spanish, Basque
- Meaning: Son of Orti
- Pronunciation: or-TEES
- Variations: Ortis, Ortez
- Namesakes: David Ortiz, a Dominican American designated hitter elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 after winning three World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox.
- Popularity: Ortiz ranked #68 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 287,000 bearers.
Parker
A parker kept a lord’s park, which in medieval England was not a public green but an enclosed hunting preserve stocked with deer. The job carried real authority, since the parker enforced poaching laws, and the surname followed the office through the 13th century onward. The word reached English from Old French parc.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Park keeper
- Pronunciation: pARK-er
- Variations: Parkerson, Parkhouse, Parkman, Parcker, Parkerr, Paarker
- Namesakes: Andrea N. Parker, an American actress known for her roles on the TV series E.R., The Pretender, Desperate Housewives, and Pretty Little Liars.
- Popularity: Parker was #56 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 336,000 bearers.
Patel
Patel comes from a Gujarati title for a village headman, the man who held the land record and collected revenue for the community. The word traces back through patidar, a holder of a strip of land, to a Sanskrit root for a deed or grant. It was a status rather than a family name, which is why so many unrelated Gujarati households share it. Emigration from Gujarat to East Africa, Britain, and North America pushed Patel into the American top 100 as a “P” surname in barely two generations. Desai, a Gujarati and Marathi surname taken from another revenue office, is often grouped with it but is a separate name. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who helped unify the Indian states after independence, is its most historically weighty bearer.
- Origin: Gujarati, Indian
- Meaning: Village headman
- Pronunciation: puh-TEHL
- Variations: Patell, Pattel
- Namesakes: Dev Patel, a British actor nominated for an Academy Award for Lion and known for his lead role in Slumdog Millionaire.
- Popularity: Patel ranked #95 in the 2010 U.S. census with roughly 230,000 bearers, a steep climb from #172 in the 2000 count.
Perez
Perez means son of Pero, the older Spanish form of Pedro, which comes from Latin petrus, rock. It is one of the classic Castilian patronymics and among the most common surnames in Spain, Cuba, and Venezuela. A completely separate Perez exists in Hebrew, meaning breach or burst forth, borne by a son of Judah in the Book of Genesis, and it is common among Sephardic Jewish families. Two unrelated names, one spelling, and no way to tell them apart from the surname alone. Peres and Peretz are the usual spellings of the Hebrew line, and the Spanish patronymic keeps the accent as Pérez in its home country.
- Origin: Spanish, Hebrew
- Meaning: Son of Pero or Pedro, breach or burst forth
- Pronunciation: pEH-rehs
- Variations: Peres, Peret, Peretz, Perets, Phazes, Parez, Peris
- Namesakes: Armando Christian Pérez, an American rapper and businessman known as Pitbull, recognized for his unique take on Latin hip-hop and crunk music.
- Popularity: Perez was #22 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 682,000 bearers.
Peterson
Peter comes from the Greek petros, rock, the name Jesus gave to the apostle Simon, and Peterson is the son of Peter. Scandinavian immigration did most of the work here: Petersen from Denmark and Norway and Pettersson from Sweden were both simplified to Peterson at American ports, which is why the name clusters heavily in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. An older Scottish line developed independently. The single-S American spelling is now more common than any of its parents.
- Origin: English, Scottish, Scandinavian
- Meaning: Son of Peter
- Pronunciation: PEE-ter-suhn
- Variations: Petersen, Pettersson, Peters, Petersson, Peterssen, Peterzen, Pedersen
- Namesakes: Debbi Peterson, an American drummer and musician in the all-female band, The Bangles.
- Popularity: Peterson ranked #71 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 278,000 bearers.
Phillips
Phillips means son of Philip, from Greek elements meaning lover of horses. The name reached Britain through the apostle Philip and gained ground in Wales, where it is still concentrated. Spelling has never settled: Philips, Phillip, and Phelps all descend from the same source, and parish clerks used whichever came to hand. Prince Philip’s marriage into the British royal family gave the given name a 20th century revival that the surname did not need.
- Origin: English, Welsh
- Meaning: Son of Philip
- Pronunciation: FIHL-ihps
- Variations: Philips, Phillip, Philip
- Namesakes: Abigail Louise Phillips, an English actress best known for her role as Liberty Savage in the TV soap opera Hollyoaks.
- Popularity: Phillips was #52 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 361,000 bearers.
Price
Price comes from Welsh ap Rhys, son of Rhys, with the P of ap fusing onto the front of the name. That fusion is a signature of Welsh surnames: Powell from ap Hywel, Pritchard from ap Richard, Bevan from ab Evan. Rhys itself means ardor or enthusiasm and was borne by several Welsh princes. Pryce is the older spelling, and some families anglicized it to Price to sound less obviously Welsh in English institutions.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Son of Rhys
- Pronunciation: prAYs
- Variations: Pryce, Pris, Prys, Preece, Prees, Preis, Preuss
- Namesakes: Alan Price, an English musician who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Animals.
- Popularity: Price ranked #91 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 235,000 bearers, and it is a strongly Welsh name.
Ramirez
Ramiro is a Visigothic name built from Germanic elements usually read as counsel and famous, and Ramirez is his son. Several kings of Asturias, Leon, and Aragon carried it in the ninth through eleventh centuries, which gave the patronymic a long head start. Like Rodriguez and Gonzalez, it belongs to the layer of Spanish surnames left behind by Germanic rulers rather than by Latin ones. It is now common throughout Mexico, Colombia, and the American Southwest.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Ramiro
- Pronunciation: raa-MEE-rehs
- Variations: Ramires, Ramiro, Ramirez de, Remirez
- Namesakes: Sara Ramirez, an American actor and singer who won a Tony Award for Spamalot and played Dr. Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy.
- Popularity: Ramirez ranked #28 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 557,000 bearers.
Ramos
Ramos means branches, from Latin ramus. The most common explanation is religious rather than botanical: Domingo de Ramos is the Spanish name for Palm Sunday, and children baptized on that day were sometimes given the name. It also works as a topographic name for a family living in thick woodland, and as a habitational name from several Spanish and Portuguese villages called Ramos.
- Origin: Spanish, Portuguese
- Meaning: Palms, palm branches
- Pronunciation: rAA-mohs
- Variations: Ramose, Ramis, Ramo, Ramon
- Namesakes: Nathalia Norah Ramos Cohen, an American actress known for her roles in the film Bratz and The Damned.
- Popularity: Ramos was #76 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 263,000 bearers.
Reed
Reed began as a nickname from Old English read, red, describing hair or complexion. Scotland kept the pronunciation closer to the original and spells it Reid, which is why Reid is common in Glasgow and Reed in Georgia. A second source is topographic, from a clearing or a reed bed. The competing spellings Read and Reade appear in English records from the 12th century and never fully merged.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Red
- Pronunciation: rEEd
- Variations: Reid, Read, Reade, Red, Readman Ried, Reede
- Namesakes: Chris Reed, an American-born Japanese ice dancer who, with his sister Cathy Reed became a seven-time Japanese national champion.
- Popularity: Reed ranked #73 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 277,000 bearers.
Reyes
Reyes is the plural of rey, king, from Latin rex. The plural is the clue to its meaning: it points to the Three Kings of the Epiphany, celebrated in Spanish-speaking countries as Dia de los Reyes on January 6. Children born or baptized around that feast were often given the name, and religious houses assigned it to foundlings. A smaller number of families took it from serving in a royal household. The Portuguese equivalent is Reis.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Kings
- Pronunciation: RAY-ehs
- Variations: Rey, Reis, Del Rey, Reyez
- Namesakes: Jose Reyes, a Dominican American shortstop who won the 2011 National League batting title and was a four-time Major League Baseball All-Star.
- Popularity: Reyes ranked #60 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 328,000 bearers.
Richardson
Richardson means son of Richard, from Germanic elements meaning ruler and hardy or brave. The Normans made Richard one of the most popular male names in England, helped by three kings and by Richard the Lionheart’s outsized reputation. In Scotland the surname is associated with the Buchanan and Ogilvie clans from the 13th century.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Son or descendant of Richard
- Pronunciation: RIH-cherd-sun
- Variations: Richards, Richardsen, Richerdson
- Namesakes: Patricia Castle Richardson, an American actress known for her role on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement.
- Popularity: Richardson was #80 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 260,000 bearers.
Rivera
Rivera is topographic, from Late Latin riparia, riverbank. Families living beside water took the name across Spain and Italy, and it survives in dozens of place names. The Catalan and Italian form is Ribera or Riviera, the same word that names the Mediterranean coast. The surname is especially common in Puerto Rico, where it ranks among the top few, and it arrived in the mainland United States largely through that connection.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Riverbank
- Pronunciation: ree-vEH-raa
- Variations: Ribera, Riva, Rivero, Riviere, Riba
- Namesakes: Naya Marie Rivera, an American actress, and singer known for her work on the musical comedy-drama series, Glee.
- Popularity: Rivera ranked #46 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 391,000 bearers.
Roberts
Roberts means son of Robert, from Germanic hrod, fame, and beraht, bright. The Normans introduced the given name to Britain, where it displaced older Anglo-Saxon names within a couple of generations. Wales adopted it heavily during the Tudor period, which is why Roberts, Jones, Williams, and Evans crowd the Welsh top ten together. The German Rupert and the French Robart are the same name on other tongues.
- Origin: Welsh, German
- Meaning: Son of Robert
- Pronunciation: RAA-berts
- Variations: Robert, Robarts, Robins, Robart, Ropartz, Robberts, Ropert, Ruppert
- Namesakes: Julia Roberts, an American actress known for her roles in the films Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, and Erin Brockovich.
- Popularity: Roberts was #50 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 377,000 bearers, and it is among the leading surnames in Wales.
Robinson
Robinson means son of Robin, and Robin was the standard medieval English pet form of Robert, formed with the French diminutive ending in. That makes Robinson and Roberts siblings rather than strangers. The name is concentrated in northern England, especially Yorkshire, where it appears in poll tax records from the 14th century. It is also common among African American families, and Jackie Robinson’s 1947 debut fixed it permanently in American memory.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Son of Robin
- Pronunciation: rAA-bihn-suhn
- Variations: Robeson, Robison, Robins
- Namesakes: Gertrude Maud Robinson, a British organic chemist famous for her work on plant pigments.
- Popularity: Robinson ranked #30 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 530,000 bearers.
Rodriguez
Rodriguez means son of Rodrigo, from the Germanic Hrodric, built on elements meaning fame and power. The Visigoths who ruled Iberia from the fifth century left a whole stratum of these names behind, and Roderic was the last Visigothic king before the Muslim conquest of 711. The Castilian ending ez marks descent, so the name is a compact family record. Portuguese speakers write Rodrigues with an S. It ranks in the top ten in the United States, Spain, and much of Latin America.
- Origin: Spanish, German
- Meaning: Son of Rodrigo
- Pronunciation: roh-drEE-gehz
- Variations: Rodrigue, Rodriques, Roderick, Rodiger, Rhodriquez, Rhodriguez, Rodrigues
- Namesakes: Luis Javier Rodriguez, an American writer known for his award-winning work titled, Always Running La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.
- Popularity: Rodriguez was the ninth most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.09 million bearers.
Rogers
Rogers means son of Roger, from Germanic elements meaning fame and spear. The Normans brought Roger to England in force after 1066, and it stayed common enough through the Middle Ages to spawn a large family of surnames including Rodgers, Rogerson, and Hodge. The D spelling, Rodgers, is more usual in Scotland and Ireland. Roger’s later career as the radio word for message received is an accident of the phonetic alphabet, not the name’s history.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Son of Roger
- Pronunciation: RAA-jerz
- Variations: Roger, Rodgers, Rogerson, Rodgerson, Rogars
- Namesakes: Kenneth Ray Rogers, an American Country Music Hall of Fame singer-songwriter best known for his 1978 hit, The Gambler.
- Popularity: Rogers ranked #66 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 302,000 bearers.
Ross
Ross is habitational, from Gaelic ros, a headland or promontory, and it names an old earldom in the Scottish Highlands. Welsh rhos, a moor, and Middle English rous, red-haired, both feed smaller branches. Clan Ross traces to Fearchar mac an t-sagairt, made Earl of Ross in the 1220s. Because so many Rosses descend from tenants on the earldom’s land rather than from the earls themselves, the surname says more about geography than about lineage.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Red-haired, headland
- Pronunciation: rAAs
- Variations: Rosse, Ros
- Namesakes: Nelson Alexander Ross, an American comic book writer and artist best known for his work on the 90s Marvel Comics.
- Popularity: Ross ranked #98 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 229,000 bearers, and it is one of the best-known Scottish surnames.
Ruiz
Ruiz means son of Ruy, and Ruy is a medieval Spanish short form of Rodrigo. That makes it a compressed cousin of Rodriguez, built from the same Germanic elements for fame and power. Ruy Diaz de Vivar, the warlord known as El Cid, is the most famous man ever to carry the short form.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Ruy
- Pronunciation: roo-EES
- Variations: Ruis, Ruy, Rui, Ruyz
- Namesakes: Andy Ruiz Jr., an American boxer of Mexican descent who became the first heavyweight champion of Mexican heritage after defeating Anthony Joshua in 2019.
- Popularity: Ruiz ranked #89 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 238,000 bearers.
Sanchez
Sanchez means son of Sancho, from Latin sanctius, a form of sanctus, holy or sanctified. Sancho was a working royal name in medieval Navarre and Castile, so the patronymic spread early and widely. Cervantes handed it to Sancho Panza and made it permanently familiar outside Spain. The Portuguese form is Sanches, and both are now common throughout Latin America and the American Southwest.
- Origin: Latin, Spanish
- Meaning: Son of Sancto
- Pronunciation: SAHN-chehz
- Variations: Sanches, Sanz, Sainz, Saenz, Saiz, Saez, Sanguez, Sanchiz
- Namesakes: Oscar Arias Sanchez, a former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served two different terms as president.
- Popularity: Sanchez was #26 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 613,000 bearers.
Sanders
Sanders is a shortened patronymic from Alexander, by way of the medieval English pet form Sander. Alexander comes from Greek roots meaning defender of men, and Alexander the Great kept it in circulation across Europe and the Middle East for two thousand years. The name is strongly associated with Scotland, where Alexander was a royal name, and with the north of England. A separate German and Dutch Sanders descends from the same source through Sander or Zander. The first Irish record of the surname dates to County Wicklow in the early 17th century.
- Origin: Greek, Irish, English
- Meaning: Son of Alexander
- Pronunciation: saen-duhrs
- Variations: Sanderson, Sandersen, Sander.
- Namesakes: Christopher Sanders, an American actor known for his roles in the TV series Ghost Whisperer and the sitcom Last Man Standing.
- Popularity: Sanders ranked #94 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 230,000 bearers.
Scott
Scott is an ethnic name, given to someone identified as a Scot. The twist is that Latin Scotti originally referred to Gaelic raiders from Ireland, not to the people of modern Scotland, so the earliest bearers were probably Gaelic speakers living among English speakers who needed a label for them. The surname is recorded in the Scottish borders from the 12th century, where Clan Scott became a major border family. Sir Walter Scott, whose novels invented much of the world’s picture of the Highlands, remains its most consequential bearer.
- Origin: Gaelic, Scotland
- Meaning: A native of Scotland
- Pronunciation: skAHt
- Variations: Scot, Scotte, Scotten, Schott, Scoth, Scutt, Scotus
- Namesakes: Douglas Keith Scott, an English mountaineer known for the first ascent of the southwest face of Mount Everest in 1975.
- Popularity: Scott was #36 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 440,000 bearers.
Smith
Smith comes from Old English smid, related to smitan, to strike. Every village needed a metalworker, and the smith made the plowshares, horseshoes, hinges, and nails that kept the place running, so the trade name arose independently in thousands of communities at once. That is the whole explanation for its rank: not one enormous family, but a job so essential that everyone had one. The same logic produced Schmidt in Germany, Ferrari in Italy, Herrero in Spain, and Kovac across the Slavic world. The English variants Smyth and Smythe are affectations of spelling rather than separate names, adopted by families who wanted to look older than they were.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: A worker in metals
- Pronunciation: smIHth
- Variations: Smyth, Smythe, Schmidt
- Namesakes: Delia Ann Smith, an English chef and TV presenter, and one of the most popular celebrity chefs in British popular culture.
- Popularity: Smith was the most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with nearly 2.45 million bearers, and it holds the top spot in England, Scotland, Australia, and Canada too.
Stewart
Stewart comes from Old English stigweard, joining stig, household or hall, and weard, guardian. The High Steward of Scotland managed the royal household, and the office became hereditary in one family, which then took it as a surname. That family reached the throne in 1371 and ruled Scotland, and later England, until 1714. Mary, Queen of Scots adopted the French spelling Stuart during her years in France because French has no W, and both forms survive today. Few surnames can be dated to a single job in a single household this precisely.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Keeper of the household, steward
- Pronunciation: STOO-ert
- Variations: Stuart, Steward, Stewarte, Stiubhart
- Namesakes: Sir Patrick Stewart, an English actor known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in the X-Men films.
- Popularity: Stewart ranked #61 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 325,000 bearers, well ahead of the rarer spelling Steward.
Taylor
Taylor is occupational, from Old French tailleur, a cutter, from Latin taliare, to cut. Tailoring became a distinct trade in England after the 13th century, when fitted clothing replaced loose robes and cutting cloth well became a specialist skill. The surname is among the most common in England and in every country English settlers reached. It has also become a widely used first name for girls and boys since the 1990s. Fuller, Walker, and Tucker all name the cloth trade too, which tells you how much of medieval England’s economy ran on wool.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Cutter of cloth
- Pronunciation: TAY-ler
- Variations: Tayla, Tayler, Tailour, Taylour, Tailleur, Tailor
- Namesakes: James Vernon Taylor, an American singer-songwriter and six-time Grammy Award winner, who sold over 100 million records worldwide.
- Popularity: Taylor was #17 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 751,000 bearers.
Thomas
Thomas comes from Aramaic te’oma, meaning twin, and reached Europe as the name of the apostle who doubted. Its spread is unusual: it works as a surname in English, Welsh, French, and German without changing spelling, which is why it ranks high in several countries at once. Wales adopted it especially heavily during the Tudor shift to fixed surnames. Variants include Thom, Toma, and the Italian Tommasi.
- Origin: English, Welsh
- Meaning: Son of Thomas
- Pronunciation: thAW-muhs
- Variations: Tomas, Thomason, Tomason, Tommasi, Toma, Thom, Thoma
- Namesakes: Clarence Thomas, an American Supreme Court justice nominated by President George H. W. Bush.
- Popularity: Thomas ranked #16 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 756,000 bearers, and it is common in France and Wales as well.
Thompson
Thom was a medieval short form of Thomas, and Thompson is the son of Thom. The intrusive P is an English spelling habit that crept in because the M and S are awkward together, and it is the single reliable way to guess a family’s origin: Scotland kept Thomson without it, England added it. Gaelic families arrived at the same name through Mac Tamhais. Both spellings are common in North America, often within the same extended family.
- Origin: Celtic, English, Scottish
- Meaning: Son of Thome
- Pronunciation: TAHMp-suhn
- Variations: Thomson, Thomason, Thomasson, Thomassin, Thomeson, Tompson
- Namesakes: Bronwyn Thompson, an Australian long jumper who holds the Australian record and won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
- Popularity: Thompson was #23 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 665,000 bearers.
Torres
Torres means towers, from Latin turris. It is habitational, taken from any of the many Spanish and Portuguese villages named Torres or Torre after a defensive tower. Medieval Iberia was full of them, built against raids during the long centuries of frontier warfare, so the name arose in dozens of unrelated places. It is now among the most common surnames in Spain, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
- Origin: Catalan, Portuguese, Spanish
- Meaning: Towers
- Pronunciation: TOH-rrehs
- Variations: Torre, Torrez, Torrens, De Torres
- Namesakes: Dara Grace Torres, an American former competitive swimmer known as a 12-time Olympic medallist and former world record-holder in three events.
- Popularity: Torres ranked #37 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 438,000 bearers, far ahead of the rarer spelling Torrez.
Turner
A turner shaped wood or bone on a lathe, producing bowls, spindles, chair legs, and cups for households that had no other way to get them. The word comes through Old French tornier from Latin tornus, a lathe. A second, rarer explanation makes it a guard of a tower, from a Germanic root.
- Origin: Latin, Anglo-Norman
- Meaning: Lathe worker
- Pronunciation: tER-ner
- Variations: Tournier, Turney, Tarner, Terner, Turnor, Thurner, Tournor
- Namesakes: Joseph Turner Jr., an American singer known for his rock-and-roll recordings in the 1950s, includes the hit Shake, Rattle, and Roll.
- Popularity: Turner was #54 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 349,000 bearers.
Walker
Walker sounds like a name for someone who walked, and in a sense it is, but the walking was work. Before machines, newly woven wool cloth was thickened by trampling it in a trough of water and fuller’s earth, and the man who did it was the walker, from Old English wealcan, to tread. The same job produced the surname Fuller in the south of England and Tucker in the west, so the three names map neatly onto medieval English dialect regions. Walker dominates in the north and in Scotland.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: A fuller of cloth
- Pronunciation: wAW-ker
- Variations: Wallker, Walkar, Walkere
- Namesakes: Charles David Walker, an American engineer and astronaut who flew on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984 and 1985.
- Popularity: Walker ranked #31 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 523,000 bearers.
Ward
Ward comes from Old English weard, a watchman or guard, and began as an occupational name for anyone who kept watch over a gate, a coast, or a herd. It also works as a topographic “W” surname for a family living near a lookout post. An Irish line anglicizes Mac an Bhaird, son of the bard, which has nothing to do with guarding at all and is the more likely source for Wards from Galway and Donegal.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Watch, guard
- Pronunciation: wAWrd
- Variations: Warde, Warden, Wardman, Wordman, Wards, Wardale
- Namesakes: Anita Ward, an American singer and musician best known for her 1979 million-selling hit Ring My Bell.
- Popularity: Ward was #79 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 260,000 bearers.
Watson
Wat was the everyday medieval short form of Walter, from Germanic elements meaning ruler and army, and Watson is his son. The related surnames Watts, Watkins, and Wattis all grow from the same nickname. Watson is especially common in Scotland and northern England, where it appears in records from the 14th century. Conan Doyle’s Dr. Watson gave the name a second life in fiction that shows no sign of ending.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Son of Walter
- Pronunciation: wAAt-sun
- Variations: Wattis, Watts, Wattson, Wats
- Namesakes: Heather Miriam Watson, a British professional tennis player known for winning nine titles.
- Popularity: Watson ranked #81 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 253,000 bearers.
White
White began as a descriptive nickname from Old English hwit, applied to fair hair, pale skin, or habitually light clothing. It is one of the color surnames that includes Black, Brown, and Green, all of which arose the same way and for the same reason. In Ireland many Whites are anglicizations of Mac Giolla Bhain, son of the fair-haired lad, and in Scotland the Gaelic ban produced Bain alongside White. The Whyte spelling holds on in Scotland and Ireland.
- Origin: Anglo-Saxon
- Meaning: Son of the fair Gillie, fair complexion
- Pronunciation: wAYt
- Variations: Whyte, Whiet, Wight, Whytte
- Namesakes: Barry White, an American singer-songwriter known for his hits Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe and You’re the First, the Last, My Everything.
- Popularity: White was #24 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 660,000 bearers.
Williams
Williams means son of William, from Old German willahelm, joining will or desire with helmet or protection. William the Conqueror gave the given name an unbeatable head start in England after 1066, and it stayed the most popular male name in the country for centuries. Wales adopted the patronymic in bulk during the Tudor period, which is why Williams sits in the Welsh top three. The French form is Guillaume, the German Wilhelm, and the Scottish clan name MacWilliams preserves the older Gaelic construction.
- Origin: Welsh, French, German
- Meaning: Son of William
- Pronunciation: wILL-yumz
- Variations: William, Willimon, Williman, Williamson, Wilcox, MacWilliams, Willhelm
- Namesakes: Robin Williams, an American actor famous for his role in Patch Adams, among many others.
- Popularity: Williams was the third most common surname in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 1.63 million bearers, and it is among the top surnames in Wales.
Wilson
Wilson means son of Will, and Will was the standard short form of William through the whole Middle Ages. The Germanic root wil, desire or resolve, sits behind both. The surname is heavily concentrated in Scotland and northern England, where it appears in border records from the 1300s. Wilson, Williams, and Williamson are three answers to the same question, separated only by which region asked it.
- Origin: English, Germanic
- Meaning: Son of Will
- Pronunciation: wIHl-suhn
- Variations: Willson, Wilsone, Wills, Willeson, Wulson
- Namesakes: David Henry Wilson, an English writer known for his children’s stories like the Jeremy James series.
- Popularity: Wilson ranked #14 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 802,000 bearers.
Wood
Wood is topographic, from Middle English wode, for a family living in or beside a forest, or working in one as a woodcutter or charcoal burner. In Scotland an older line was recorded in Latin as De Bosco, meaning of the wood, before the family adopted the English form. Woods with an S is the more common Irish spelling and often anglicizes Mac Conchoille, son of the hound of the wood. The name is unusually literal even by English standards, and it produced a family of relatives: Woodward, Woodhouse, and Attwood all describe the same landscape from slightly different angles.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Wood
- Pronunciation: wUUd
- Variations: Woode, Woods
- Namesakes: Aimee Lou Wood, an English actress known for her roles in Mary Stuart and People, Places, and Things.
- Popularity: Wood was #84 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 251,000 bearers.
Wright
Wright comes from Old English wryhta, a maker or craftsman, and it survives inside the compound trades that specified what a person made: wheelwright, shipwright, cartwright, playwright. On its own it usually meant a carpenter or joiner. The word shares a root with the verb to work, which is why the spelling looks so unhelpful to modern eyes. Orville and Wilbur Wright, sons of a bicycle mechanic, made the name a byword for building things that had not been built before.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Craftsman, maker
- Pronunciation: rAYt
- Variations: Write, Wrighte, Wrightson, Wraight
- Namesakes: Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect who designed Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum and is widely regarded as the most influential American architect of the 20th century.
- Popularity: Wright ranked #35 in the 2010 U.S. census, with roughly 459,000 bearers.
Young
Young comes from Middle English yonge and distinguished the younger of two men in a household who shared a first name, exactly as junior does now. It was one of the earliest and most practical kinds of English byname. Scotland has a strong Young presence, and some Scottish Youngs anglicize the Gaelic Og, which carries the same meaning. A separate group of American Youngs descend from German Jung, translated rather than transcribed on arrival.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Young
- Pronunciation: yUHng
- Variations: Younge, Yong
- Namesakes: Neil Young, a Canadian-American singer-songwriter known for his folk-rock albums Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Rust Never Sleeps.
- Popularity: Young was #32 in the 2010 U.S. census, with about 484,000 bearers.
