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 includes national counts of last names by race and Hispanic origin, first names by race and Hispanic origin, as well as first names by sex. A summary table compares the most common names from past censuses, including those from 1790, 1990, 2000, 2010, and the latest in 2020.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this is the first time since the 1990 Census that data on first names has been included alongside surnames. The term “predominantly” is used in cases where a majority of people with a given name identified with one race or sex category—for example, “Garcia” is described as a predominantly Hispanic surname because over ninety percent of respondents with that name selected Hispanic origin.
Eight surnames—Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Miller, Smith, Williams and Wilson—have remained among the top fifteen since the nation’s founding census in 1790. Since the year 2000 however, six predominantly Hispanic surnames (Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez, Lopez, Martinez and Rodriguez) have entered this group. Between 2010 and 2020 all but one of the fastest-growing surnames among the top thousand were predominantly Asian; between 2000 and 2010 only eleven Asian surnames appeared among these fastest-growing entries—a shift reflecting changing immigration patterns.
Despite women outnumbering men nationally in the United States in 2020 census figures show that all five most common first names are predominantly male—a result attributed to greater variety among female given names compared to male ones. Most popular male or female first names remain highly gendered (such as Michael or Mary), though some like Harley or Quinn approach an even split between genders.
No information about specific individuals or combinations of given name plus surname is included; statistical safeguards are applied to protect confidentiality according to officials at the U.S. Census Bureau. Full datasets and methodology can be accessed through census.gov.
