2020 Census: Top Surnames Stable, Asian Names Grow Fastest

The U.S. Census Bureau released data Tuesday from the 2020 census showing that the most common last names in the United States remained largely unchanged from a decade earlier, with Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones holding the top five spots. However, Asian surnames emerged as the fastest-growing category over the period, reflecting broader demographic shifts in the nation's population.

The report, part of the once-a-decade head count, identified 7.8 million unique last names nationwide. Rounding out the top 10 were Garcia at sixth, Miller at seventh, Rodriguez at eighth, Davis at ninth and Martinez at 10th. The only shift in the rankings from 2010 came when Rodriguez overtook Davis for the eighth position. While the overall list of popular surnames stayed stable, the fastest-rising names were predominantly Asian, led by Zhang, Liu and Wang.

This trend aligns with population growth patterns, as people identifying as Asian have been the fastest-expanding among the country's major racial and ethnic groups in the 21st century. They now comprise about 7 percent of the U.S. population, with much of the increase attributed to immigration and the children of immigrants. The...