The U.S. Census Bureau released on April 14 a set of data tables showing the most common first and last names reported in the 2020 Census.
The release provides insight into naming patterns across the United States, with national-level counts for last names by race and Hispanic origin, first names by race and Hispanic origin, and first names by sex. A summary table compares the most common names in each census year from 1790 to 2020.
According to the Census Bureau, eight of the top fifteen last names—Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Miller, Smith, Williams and Wilson—have remained in the top fifteen since the nation’s first census in 1790. The data also show that six predominantly Hispanic surnames—Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez, Lopez, Martinez and Rodriguez—joined the top fifteen since 2000.
The report notes changes reflecting immigration trends. Between 2010 and 2020 all but one of the fastest-growing surnames among the top one thousand were predominantly Asian. In contrast, only eleven Asian surnames appeared on a similar list between 2000 and 2010.
Despite women outnumbering men in the United States in 2020, all five of the most common first names were predominantly male. The report states this indicates greater variety among female given names compared to male ones. Names such as Michael, John and James were almost entirely male; Mary, Maria and Jennifer were almost entirely female; while Harley, Emerson and Quinn had nearly equal representation between males and females.
The data tables contain only name frequencies without identifying information or combinations of first with last names. The bureau said statistical safeguards are used to protect respondent confidentiality.
Full datasets as well as methodology details can be found on census.gov.
