10 Of The Most Common Last Names Around The World

How popular is your last name? Is it as popular as Smith? You probably already know that the most common last name in the United State (as well as in some other English-speaking countries) is Smith but do you know which last name has the highest occurrence in, let’s say, Spain? Or how about China? In fact, the most common surnames vary significantly with nations, regions, and cultures. From Fernandez and Silva to Anderson and Ahmed, here are 25 of the Most Common Last Names Around the World.

10 Smith

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Will_Smith_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg

This last name originated in England and it gradually spread into other English-speaking countries. Now, Smith is the most common family name in the United States, Canada, Britain, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

9 Garcia

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andy_Garcia_at_the_2009_Deauville_American_Film_Festival-01A.jpg

Garcia is the most common surname in Spain, the second most common surname in Cuba and the third most common surname in Mexico. It has also become common in the US due to massive Latin American immigration, and is now the 8th most common surname in the U.S.

8 Martin

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/evarinaldiphotography/8726124446

With over 235,000 people holding the last name Martin in France, it is the most common French surname. A shorter version of the Latin name Martinus, Martin is also a very common first name in many languages.

7 Rossi

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Valentino_Rossi_2010_Qatar.jpg

The plural of Rosso (meaning red in Italian), Rossi is the most common surname in Italy. Due to the diaspora, it is also very common in some other countries such as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Peru, US and Uruguay.

6 Novak

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Novak_%C4%90okovi%C4%87_-_Roland-Garros_2013_-_028.jpg

Meaning “new man”, “newcomer”, or “stranger” in English, Novak is a very popular Slavic name (both first name and last name). It is the most common last name in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia but it also has a high occurrence in Croatia, Moldova, Serbia and Romania.

5 Fernandez

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Fern%C3%A1ndez_(pitcher)

Meaning “son of Fernando”, Fernandez is a common Spanish surname. It is the 4th most popular name in Argentina, 8th most popular name in Spain, 10th most popular in Paraguay and 13th most popular in Mexico. The Portuguese version of this surname is Fernandes.

4 Smirnov

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cup_of_Russia_2010_-_Alexander_Smirnov_(1).jpg

Smirnov (masculine) or Smirnova (feminine) is the most common last name in Russia. There are several variants of this name such: Smirnoff, Smirnow or Smyrnov but they all mean “quiet, still, peaceful, gentle”.

3 Silva

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiago_Braz_da_Silva

With over 10% of the Brazilians holding the last name Silva, it is the most common name in Brazil. Derived from the Latin word silva meaning ‘forest’ or ‘woodland’, it is also popular in Portugal and in regions of the former Portuguese Empire in America, Africa and Asia (including India and Sri Lanka).

2 Mohamed

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mohamed_johar_p.JPG

Meaning “The Most Praised One”, Mohamed is the name of the Islamic prophet and the most common name (both first name and last name) throughout the Muslim world. There are several versions of the name, such as Muhammad, Muhammett, Muhamad etc.

1 Kumar

Source: wikipedia.org, image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanhaiya_Kumar

The origin of the name Kumar can be traced back to the early development of Hinduism and its origin is in India. It is one of the most popular given name, middle name and family name in India, and the 8th most common family name in the world.