America’s most common last names by state revealed in new map

An analysis of national telephone directory listings has revealed the most common surname in every U.S. state, offering a new look at regional differences in family history.

Surnames often carry the story of a person’s family history and ethnic roots, and their regional popularity reveals states’ immigration patterns.

Ancestry.com used data from the white pages to determine which names are most common in each state, and discovered some fascinating regional trends.

The genealogy website found that Smith is by far the most common surname in the US, ranking first in 40 states and in the top three for an additional five states.

The name Smith harkens back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon and medieval English periods.

Other popular names that have appeared on the card include Johnson, Williams, Lee, Garcia and Martinez.

And the Southwest has the most surname varieties than any other American region.

States with large Latino populations, such as Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona, commonly have families with last names like Garcia, Hernandez, Martinez and Chavez.

America’s most popular surname, Smith, was once an occupational name given to those who worked in metalworking, similar to Baker, Fisher or Glover.

The name originated in England and arrived in the US when the first wave of European settlers came ashore in the early 17th century.

This name became so widely used in Europe – and eventually the US – mainly because every town once needed a blacksmith to make tools, armor, household items and weapons, according to GeneaologyExplained.com

As the towns grew, so did the demand for blacksmiths, which would explain why so many families adopted the surname Smith.

Blacksmiths remained an essential part of local economies for centuries, helping the name survive for almost 1,000 years.

After the English arrived in America, more Smiths arrived during later periods of Irish and Scottish immigration.

It was so common in the 19th and 20th centuries that German immigrants to the U.S. began Anglicizing their surnames, such as Schmitz or Schmidt, into Smith, according to familytree.com.

Native Americans who wanted a more English-sounding surname also often adopted the name Smith.

Smith is by far the most common surname in the US. Even stars like Will Smith bear this name

And because many white Americans who owned slaves had the surname Smith, it was common for African American slaves to adopt this name once they were freed.

Ancestry.com’s analysis shows that the widespread history of this name can still be found in the US.

The 40 states where Smith is the most common surname span multiple regions, including the East Coast, Central America and the Northwest.

Johnson is the next most common name nationwide, ranking first in five states: North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska.

It’s notable that all of these states are in the Midwest. This name, which literally means “son of John,” had a strong presence in the eastern half of the country in the 19th century, according to Ancestry.com.

In the 1840s, families with the name Johnson were concentrated in New York and Ohio, with some living elsewhere in the East and Midwest. By the 1880s the name was widespread in these regions.

Like Smith, this name originally came to the US via European settlers and has been widespread for centuries.

Williams is the third most common surname in the US and ranks first in Louisiana.

This name also comes from Europe and was brought to the US by settlers from southern England and Wales who arrived in waves starting in the 17th century, according to FamilySearch.org.

One of those colonists was Roger Williams, an English Puritan minister who founded the state of Rhode Island.

He arrived in Massachusetts in 1603, but was later banished from the colony for criticizing the Puritan government. He fled to what is now known as Rhode Island and founded the city of Providence.

According to Ancestry.com, there are some regional differences in surnames that are not shown on this map.

For example, families in the Northwest are more likely to be called Anderson than Brown, which is slightly more common on the East Coast.

The three most common surnames in Hawaii – Lee, Wong and Kim – do not appear in the top three in any other state in the country.

These names mainly come from Asian countries such as China and Korea. More than half of Hawaii’s population is now Asian or part Asian, according to 2020 Census Bureau data.

This is mainly due to an influx of Chinese and Korean workers after the annexation of the Aloha State in the early 19th century.

The most common last names in California included two that didn’t make the top three in any other state: Hernandez and Lopez.

And the name Sullivan only made the top three in one state: Massachusetts.