Trivia you didn’t know you wanted: Top 15 most common last names

Would someone else find this interesting or am I just turning into Cliff Clavin. (It’s a character from an old show called “Cheers.” Kids, ask your parents.)

It’s trivia I never wondered about, but when I saw an article on Cleveland.com regarding the most common 15 last names in the United States I suddenly had to know. So I feel compelled to share it for fun.

person writing on white paper

I knew it used to be names like Washington and Smith. But that was decades ago. America has certainly evolved and foreign immigration has continued to the point it has been what's stained New Jersey’s population. So would there be more Hispanic names on the list? Indian names?

These names were derived from census data and sure enough, since the 2000 census six Hispanic last names are now among the 15 most common in the United States. Which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Oh, and you can certainly bet good money that Deminski will never be in the top 15. When I used to travel more often around the country and back when phone books were in every hotel room just for fun I would look to see if my last name could be found in the local white pages. Not ever. Not once.

a close up of an old fashioned typewriter

So what are the top 15 most common last names in the country? Here they are.

1. Smith

2. Johnson

3. Williams

4. Brown

5. Jones

6. Garcia

7. Miller

8. Rodriguez

9. Davis

10. Martinez

11. Hernandez

12. Lopez

13. Gonzalez

14. Wilson

15. Anderson

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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