While America’s most common family names stayed the same over the past decade, surnames of Asian origin experienced the most dramatic growth nationwide, according to new data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Traditional surnames including Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones maintained their positions as the nation’s five most prevalent last names in 2020, matching their 2010 rankings based on the most recent national population count. However, Census officials report that Asian family names dominated the list of fastest-growing surnames during the decade.
Leading this growth were Zhang, Liu, and Wang, which claimed the top three spots for surname increases.
Completing the 2020 top-10 list of most frequent last names were Garcia, Miller, Rodriguez, Davis, and Martinez. The sole shift from 2010 rankings occurred when Rodriguez moved past Davis to claim eighth place.
This marks the fourth consecutive decade that the Census Bureau has tracked surname frequency, beginning with the 1990 count. For the first time since that initial survey, the 2020 Census also collected data on given names, though the Social Security Administration maintains annual records of popular baby names by gender.
Census findings indicate that Michael, John, James, David, and Robert were the most common male first names in 2020, while Mary, Maria, Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Patricia topped the female list.
Comparing these results to 1990 data shows minimal change over three decades. Thirty years ago, James, John, Robert, Michael, and William led male names, while Mary, Patricia, Linda, Barbara, and Elizabeth were most popular among females.
The Census Bureau’s methodology differs from Social Security Administration tracking by including all residents rather than focusing solely on newborns.
“The names people choose are a function of what they are exposed to, so culture certainly plays a role, but so does social influence,” said Jonah Berger, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania. “People are constantly exposed to names of others around them, and that can shape not only which names they like, but also which ones they avoid.”
