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Name Lineage

    Most common surnames among Black Americans

    Estimated from the 2010 Census by multiplying how many people carry each surname by the share who identified as Black (not Hispanic). Williams comes first.

    Other groups: White, Hispanic, Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American, Multiracial.

    #SurnameOriginPeople (Black)US rankPeople in the US
    1 Williams 774,920 3 1,625,252
    2 Johnson patronymic 669,333 2 1,932,812
    3 Smith English, occupational 564,572 1 2,442,977
    4 Jones patronymic 548,521 5 1,425,470
    5 Brown English, nickname 511,581 4 1,437,026
    6 Jackson patronymic 375,576 19 708,099
    7 Davis 352,769 8 1,116,357
    8 Thomas Latin, patronymic 293,005 16 756,142
    9 Harris English, patronymic 264,620 25 624,252
    10 Robinson patronymic 238,049 30 529,821
    11 Taylor occupational 213,494 17 751,209
    12 Wilson patronymic 208,409 14 801,882
    13 Moore 200,941 18 724,374
    14 White Norman, nickname 186,060 24 660,491
    15 Lewis Norman, patronymic 185,273 29 531,781
    16 Walker occupational 183,357 31 523,129
    17 Green place 159,038 41 430,182
    18 Thompson patronymic 156,657 23 664,644
    19 Washington English, place 155,266 145 177,386
    20 Anderson English, patronymic 148,488 15 784,404
    21 Scott nickname 144,693 36 439,530
    22 Carter Irish, occupational 134,162 49 376,966
    23 Wright occupational 129,570 35 458,980
    24 Hill place 126,622 39 434,827
    25 Allen patronymic 126,298 33 482,607
    26 Miller occupational 124,971 7 1,161,437
    27 Mitchell English, patronymic 124,958 48 384,486
    28 Young nickname 119,513 32 484,447
    29 Lee English, place 113,171 21 693,023
    30 Martin Latin 110,734 20 702,625
    31 Clark English, occupational 107,022 27 562,679
    32 King nickname 105,930 34 465,422
    33 Edwards patronymic 105,145 58 332,423
    34 Turner English, occupational 105,041 54 348,627
    35 Coleman patronymic 97,705 107 219,070
    36 James patronymic 96,909 85 249,379
    37 Evans Welsh, patronymic 91,459 53 355,593
    38 Hall place 87,888 45 407,076
    39 Richardson patronymic 87,370 80 259,798
    40 Adams patronymic 85,145 42 427,865
    41 Brooks place 84,232 82 251,663
    42 Parker occupational 83,349 56 336,221
    43 Jenkins patronymic 81,892 102 222,653
    44 Stewart occupational 80,784 61 324,957
    45 Campbell Scottish Gaelic, patronymic 79,046 47 386,157
    46 Howard Norse, patronymic 78,097 75 264,826
    47 Simmons patronymic 75,981 114 210,182
    48 Sanders English, patronymic 75,954 94 230,374
    49 Henderson patronymic 74,210 109 218,393
    50 Collins patronymic 73,967 59 329,770
    51 Cooper occupational 73,371 70 280,791
    52 Bell 71,364 106 220,599
    53 Watson patronymic 70,470 81 252,579
    54 Alexander Scottish Gaelic, patronymic 69,653 118 204,621
    55 Butler English, occupational 69,024 108 218,847
    56 Bryant Irish, patronymic 68,589 128 192,773
    57 Nelson English, patronymic 67,866 43 424,958
    58 Jordan Greek, patronymic 64,042 116 208,403
    59 Morris patronymic 64,032 62 318,884
    60 Barnes patronymic 63,901 110 218,241
    61 Roberts patronymic 62,997 50 376,774
    62 Reed 62,692 73 277,030
    63 Woods patronymic 62,631 144 177,425
    64 Dixon patronymic 62,612 167 159,480
    65 Gray place 61,849 87 246,116
    66 Phillips patronymic 61,661 52 360,802
    67 Griffin 61,129 122 198,406
    68 Bailey place 61,126 72 277,845
    69 Powell Welsh, patronymic 60,986 101 224,874
    70 Baker occupational 60,588 44 419,586
    71 Ford place 59,146 137 184,832
    72 Holmes 58,448 171 156,780
    73 Banks place 57,690 292 105,833
    74 Daniels patronymic 56,488 187 146,570
    75 Ross Scottish Gaelic, occupational 56,103 98 229,368
    76 Rogers patronymic 56,009 66 302,261
    77 Perry place 55,879 103 221,741
    78 Patterson English, patronymic 55,053 117 205,423
    79 Joseph Hebrew, patronymic 54,710 313 100,959
    80 Foster occupational 54,527 99 227,764
    81 Grant Norman, nickname 53,937 196 142,277
    82 Hunter occupational 53,102 160 162,440
    83 Henry French, patronymic 52,452 149 170,964
    84 Owens patronymic 51,910 140 182,719
    85 Marshall occupational 50,597 139 183,922
    86 Morgan 49,441 69 286,280
    87 Wallace Norman, nickname 48,727 123 197,276
    88 Graham 48,258 120 201,159
    89 Price Welsh, patronymic 48,250 91 235,251
    90 Ward occupational 48,186 79 260,464
    91 Hayes English, patronymic 47,959 127 194,246
    92 Freeman 47,937 151 169,149
    93 Hamilton English, place 47,834 119 201,746
    94 Boyd Scottish Gaelic, place 47,222 176 153,469
    95 Gordon place 47,174 161 161,833
    96 Franklin English, nickname 46,753 251 120,621
    97 Hawkins English, patronymic 45,768 200 139,751
    98 Sims patronymic 45,225 270 113,374
    99 Ellis patronymic 44,351 131 188,968
    100 Harrison patronymic 44,277 141 181,091
    101 Bennett patronymic 43,404 86 247,599
    102 Kelly Irish 43,371 74 267,394
    103 Hicks patronymic 42,556 170 158,320
    104 Crawford English, place 42,183 156 164,457
    105 Gibson patronymic 41,527 130 190,667
    106 Porter English, occupational 41,416 159 163,054
    107 Watkins patronymic 41,010 240 127,083
    108 Jefferson patronymic 40,965 615 55,179
    109 Tucker occupational 40,472 153 167,446
    110 Willis patronymic 40,438 230 130,152
    111 Matthews patronymic 40,271 226 131,303
    112 Mason occupational 40,213 166 160,213
    113 Fields 38,471 288 107,522
    114 Hughes patronymic 38,111 90 236,271
    115 Cook occupational 37,975 65 302,589
    116 Reid 37,974 275 111,360
    117 Simpson patronymic 37,678 158 163,181
    118 Hudson patronymic 37,007 214 134,963
    119 Russell Norman, nickname 36,978 104 221,558
    120 Cole patronymic 36,890 126 195,289
    121 Warren French 36,424 181 152,147
    122 West 36,187 125 195,818
    123 Murray Scottish Gaelic, place 35,669 136 184,910
    124 Murphy Irish, patronymic 35,560 64 308,417
    125 Wells English, place 35,246 147 176,230
    126 Douglas Scottish Gaelic, place 35,175 311 101,458
    127 Mack French 34,860 468 71,056
    128 Frazier 34,428 335 92,152
    129 Bradley English, place 34,303 208 136,720
    130 Shaw place 33,989 164 160,400
    131 Greene 33,467 241 126,101
    132 Harper English, occupational 32,634 245 124,461
    133 Spencer English, occupational 32,497 199 139,951
    134 Charles patronymic 32,417 548 61,211
    135 Perkins patronymic 32,334 223 131,440
    136 Payne 32,271 195 142,601
    137 Webb occupational 32,222 152 168,878
    138 Byrd 32,135 331 92,904
    139 Lawrence patronymic 31,971 232 129,699
    140 Oliver patronymic 31,815 264 115,900
    141 Robertson patronymic 31,671 175 153,666
    142 Cox occupational 31,531 78 261,231
    143 McDonald Scottish Gaelic, patronymic 31,190 143 180,497
    144 Austin Norman, patronymic 31,136 253 119,706
    145 Berry 30,693 222 132,812
    146 Love 30,688 385 82,873
    147 Montgomery French, place 30,414 263 115,953
    148 Burton English, place 29,909 280 110,529
    149 McCoy 29,580 278 110,744
    150 Knight English, occupational 29,544 209 136,713