The U.S. Census Bureau released (April 14, 2026) a series of data tables of the most common first and last names reported in the 2020 Census. The tables include national-level counts of: Last names by race and Hispanic origin. First names by race and Hispanic origin. First names by sex. The Cens us Bureau has produced counts of the most common surnames (last names) in each census since the 1990 Census. The 2020 Census is the first since 1990 to provide data on first names. In the listed Highlights, the term “predominantly” is used where the majority of the people with the listed names identified with a single race, Hispanic origin, or sex category.  For example, “Garcia” is a predominantly Hispanic last name because 91% of the people named Garcia chose Hispanic in their response to the 2020 Census. Highlights Eight of the top 15 last names in 1790, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 have stayed in the top 15 since the first census in 1790. The names are Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Miller, Smith, Williams and Wilson. The most notable change over time in the top 15 surnames is the addition of predominantly Hispanic last names. Since 2000, six Hispanic last names have joined the top 15. They are Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez, Lopez, Martinez and Rodriguez. Between 2010 and 2020, all but one of the fastest-growing last names among the top 1,000 were predominantly Asian. The list of fastest-growing last names between 2000 and 2010 had only 11 Asian surnames. This change reflects the shift in immigration patterns. Even though the number of women exceeded the number of men in the United States in 2020, the top five most common first names were all predominantly male. This shows female names have more variety than male names. In 2020, most first names were almost entirely male, such as Michael, John and James, or almost entirely female, such as Mary, Maria and Jennifer. There were also several first names among the top 1,000 that were close to a 50/50 split between males and females, such as Harley, Emerson and Quinn. For these names, the probability of an individual being male or female is nearly equal. More highlights are available in the America Counts story “Eight of the Nation’s Top 15 Last Names Stayed the Same Since 1790.” The files contain only the frequency of first names or last names and do not include information about specific individuals or first and last name combinations. The Census Bureau also uses statistical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the underlying responses. Access the full datasets and methodology of the most common first and last names from the 2020 Census on the census.gov webpage. Visit the Census Name Data page linked from the Genealogy page.   List of Top 15 Last Names in the United States Has Changed Less in the Last 230 Years Than You Might Think Smith. Johnson. Williams. Brown. Jones. Miller. Davis. Wilson. These names were among the most common in the United States in 1790, when the first census was taken. Little has changed 230 years later. Despite a more than 84-fold increase in the population, those same names remained among the top 15 in the most recent 2020 Census. The U.S. Census Bureau today released the 2020 Names Data, which tallies rankings of the nation’s most popular monikers and how many people share each one. And for the first time since 1990, the tables also list the most popular first names by race and Hispanic origin and by sex — showing less variety among the most popular men’s first names than women’s names. As a result, eight of the top 10 most-used first names in the United States were traditionally male. The data release is a tally of all the first names reported in the 2020 Census and a separate tally of the last names. It is not a release of the full legal names of census respondents. The term “predominantly” is used where the majority of people using certain names identified with a single Race, Hispanic origin, or Sex category. For example, “Garcia” is a predominantly Hispanic last name because 91% of the people named Garcia chose Hispanic in their response to the 2020 Census. Leading Last Names The top five last names (Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones) were the same for three decades — 2000, 2010 and 2020 — and among the top 15 in 1790 (Figure 1). Courtesy image. “It is certainly surprising given the enormous change in population since then … and the immigration in that period from all around the world,” said Joshua Comenetz, senior geographer at the Census Bureau and manager of the Census Names Project. The rise in predominantly Hispanic last names between 2000 and 2020 is also notable. In 2000, the top 50 last names included 10 that were used at least 90% of the time by respondents who identified as Hispanic. Garcia, the top-ranked among them in 8th place in 2000, jumped to 6th in 2010. In the 2020 count, the rankings had largely stabilized. All the top 15 last names held their place except for Rodriguez, which bumped up into 8th place, moving Davis down a notch. Name Concentration Last names tend to cluster by racial and Hispanic origin group, and each group experiences a different amount of clustering. For example, people of Hispanic or Latino origin have the highest percentage of their population (14.2%) sharing the group’s top 10 last names. In other words, fewer names cover a larger swath of the Hispanic or Latino population compared to other groups. “I’m not surprised there,” Comenetz says, “because the most common predominantly Hispanic names have one language origin.” In contrast, respondents who identified as White alone (i.e., White and no other race or origin) had the smallest percentage of their population (4.4%) using the top 10 last names for their racial group. In short, a greater number of last names was needed to cover 25% of the White alone population compared to the other groups. Differences in concentration may influence which names climb the ranks. Fastest Growing All but one of the fastest-growing last names among the top 1,000 were predominantly Asian between 2010 and 2020. This reflects a shift in immigration patterns. The 2000 to 2010 list of fastest growing names included several predominantly Hispanic names. Greater Variety for Women First name data are available for the first time since 1990. Despite women outnumbering men in the United States, the top five first names among the 2020 U.S. population were traditionally male: Michael, John, James, David and Robert. Why? Because a larger fraction of men share the most common male names, while a smaller fraction of women share the most common female names. “Sixteen percent of men have the top 10 male names,” said Comenetz. “For women, it’s only a little under 8%.” In other words, women had more first name variety than men. Compared to men, nearly three times as many names were needed to cover 25% of the female population (Table 3). Comparing Name Datasets How popular is your name for newborns? You can find out by looking at the annual Social Security Administration (SSA) release of babies’ first names, with data going back to the 1800s. Comparing the 2020 first name datasets from SSA and the Census Bureau, there is little overlap between the two lists (Table 5). The SSA counts the names of the babies born in 2020, while the Census Bureau counts the names of all respondents. This comparison shows that there is not much overlap in the popularity of names of babies born in 2020 and the names of the total U.S. population that year. “The census represents a kind of average of everybody currently living here,” says Comenetz. “There’s so much variety in how people name their kids that a single year does not fit the average.” Sharing a Name Most first names are used 95% or more of the time by either men or women exclusively but there are a few that are equally common among both. Some in the top 1,000 first names are close to a 50/50 split between the sexes (Table 6). Popular first names may come and go, but it’s clear the most common last names have staying power. “Despite all the changes in population, I suspect Smith would still be the most popular last name in 2075,” said Comenetz. “I’d be surprised if it isn’t.” ...read more read less