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 new data provides insight into naming trends across the United States, with breakdowns by race, Hispanic origin, and sex. The release includes national-level counts for last names by race and Hispanic origin, first names by race and Hispanic origin, as well as first names by sex. A summary table also compares the most common names in the censuses of 1790, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020.
According to the announcement, eight of the top fifteen last names—Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Miller, Smith, Williams and Wilson—have remained among the most frequent since the nation’s first census in 1790. However, there has been a notable shift over time: since 2000 six predominantly Hispanic surnames—Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez, Lopez, Martinez and Rodriguez—have entered the top fifteen list.
Between 2010 and 2020 all but one of the fastest-growing last names among the top one thousand were predominantly Asian. In contrast to earlier decades when fewer Asian surnames appeared on this list (only eleven between 2000-2010), this change is described as reflecting shifts in immigration patterns.
Despite women outnumbering men in America according to census figures from that year (2020), all five of the most common first names were predominantly male. The bureau said this suggests greater variety among female given names than male ones. Most leading first names showed strong associations with either males or females—for example Michael or Mary—but some like Harley or Quinn had nearly equal representation between sexes.
The files released contain only frequencies for individual first or last names; they do not provide information about specific individuals or combinations of full name pairs. Statistical safeguards are used to protect confidentiality of respondents’ information.
