Surname Distribution in 1990 US Census
One of the quick tests that we use to evaluate how results are handled at WorldVitalRecords.com it to search a data set for the surname “Smith.” We also used this at Ancestry.com. It must be a fairly common test in the Genealogy and Family History industry.
In working with some United States Census data I came across the distributions for surname and both male and female given names. This data is very telling and there are many stories that can be told from this type of
name analysis.
It turns out that our instinct to use the name Smith is a good one. Smith is the most common surname (or last name) in the 1990 Census. Over 1% (1.006% to be exact) of all people counted in the 1990 census had the last name of Smith. Since this is the most common last name, it is a good way to test for results when doing a search in a genealogy database.
Below are the top 10 surnames according to the 1990 United States Federal Census:
Surname.....%......Rank
SMITH ........1.006 .....#1
JOHNSON.....0.810 .....#2
WILLIAMS ..0.699.....#3
JONES ........ 0.621 .....#4
BROWN ........0.621.....#5
DAVIS.........0.480 .....#6
MILLER.......0.424 .....#7
WILSON......0.339 .....#8
MOORE........0.312 .....#9
TAYLOR.....0.311 .....#10
All of these names are common names in England. This is a clear indication of the genealogy roots from the USA that link to England.
The first name in the surname distribution that is not a common English surname is Garcia at #18. That is the most common Hispanic surname and the most common surname of any ethnic group other than English. Martinez #19, Rodriguez #22, and Hernandez #29 are other high ranking Hispanic names.
“Lee” #24 benefits from having both ethnic English and Chinese bearers of that name.
My last name, Lifferth, is so uncommon that it does not even appear in the surname distribution. That may be the reason that my wife and I named all of our children with common names. I will report on that and common given names in a future BLOG.
In working with some United States Census data I came across the distributions for surname and both male and female given names. This data is very telling and there are many stories that can be told from this type of
name analysis.
It turns out that our instinct to use the name Smith is a good one. Smith is the most common surname (or last name) in the 1990 Census. Over 1% (1.006% to be exact) of all people counted in the 1990 census had the last name of Smith. Since this is the most common last name, it is a good way to test for results when doing a search in a genealogy database.
Below are the top 10 surnames according to the 1990 United States Federal Census:
Surname.....%......Rank
SMITH ........1.006 .....#1
JOHNSON.....0.810 .....#2
WILLIAMS ..0.699.....#3
JONES ........ 0.621 .....#4
BROWN ........0.621.....#5
DAVIS.........0.480 .....#6
MILLER.......0.424 .....#7
WILSON......0.339 .....#8
MOORE........0.312 .....#9
TAYLOR.....0.311 .....#10
All of these names are common names in England. This is a clear indication of the genealogy roots from the USA that link to England.
The first name in the surname distribution that is not a common English surname is Garcia at #18. That is the most common Hispanic surname and the most common surname of any ethnic group other than English. Martinez #19, Rodriguez #22, and Hernandez #29 are other high ranking Hispanic names.
“Lee” #24 benefits from having both ethnic English and Chinese bearers of that name.
My last name, Lifferth, is so uncommon that it does not even appear in the surname distribution. That may be the reason that my wife and I named all of our children with common names. I will report on that and common given names in a future BLOG.
posted by David at 9:03 AM
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