What ’s in a name ? Well , quite a lot , really . Themost vernacular last namesare more than just label .
They carry a history , secernate a story and — sometimes — even reveal arcanum about the past . From the bustle streets of Beijing to the quiet corner of rural Ireland , the most common cognomen can proffer a fascinating coup d’oeil into a culture ’s heritage , migration , and transformation over time .
lease ’s plunk into the populace of last names and search the etymology and history behind some of the most far-flung family name on each continent . Here , we take a look at the most vulgar surnames on each populated continent , according togenealogy website Forebears .
5 Most Common Last Names in Africa
In Africa , the most common last name isMohamed , with 7.5 million people stock this name . But get in fifth place is Mohammed ( 4.9 million ) . No . 17 is Muhammed ( 1.8 million ) and No . 74 is Mahamat ( 829,000 ) , so some miscellany of this cognomen is oblige by some 15 million ethnic music .
Many African last name reflect thewidespread colonialismthat fall out on this continent , and one major group of colonizers was Muslim .
5 Most Common Last Names in Asia
Wang is the most popular last name in the world , which means it ’s also No . 1 in Asia . Li comes in as a close moment , though , with105 million peoplehaving that surname . Due to how populous China is , many of these vernacular Asian surnames names are , well , Chinese .
Kim , the Korean surname meaning " atomic number 79 , " is very democratic in both North and South Korea , as are Lee and Park . Devi is the most common family name in India . Nguyen is the Vietnamese surname most often noted by their inner nosecount bureau .
5 Most Common Last Names in Europe
In Europe , the top last name isGarcia , a name hold by 1.7 million folks and is the most popular last name in Spain . Garcia is believe to beoriginally Basquefor " bear . "
Müller ( a German occupational surname similar to the English edition , Miller ) is the most popular surname in many German - talk countries . It ’s also the most popular occupational last name in Spain ( as Molina ) and in Ukraine ( as Melnik ) , possibly because these country farm a band of cereal and the surname refers to one who milled grain .
If you take a slip across from mainland Europe to the UK and Ireland , there are plenty of other vernacular last names deserving reckon . Murphy is the number one Irish family name ( mean a " ocean - warrior " ) while the most democratic Scottish surname is Smith and the most common Welsh family name is Jones .
5 Most Common Last Names in North America
Many people are surprised that the most coarse cognomen inNorth Americaare all of Spanish inception . That ’s because , while the U.S. and Canada are part of this continent , so are Mexico and all of the body politic and territorial dominion in Central America and the Caribbean — nations and territories that werelargely colonized by the Spanish .
If you bet alone at Canada and the U.S. , Smith issue forth out on top as the most vulgar last name in both nations . In the U.S. , Smith is followed by Johnson , Williams , Brown and Jones — all names that can be traced to the English , Scottish and Welsh , aka the country ’s early European colonizer .
Smith is also tops in England and name to someone who is askilled craftsman(like a blacksmith ) .
5 Most Common Last Names in Oceania
Oceaniaencompasses all the islands in the Pacific Ocean between Asia and North America , include the continent of Australia . But some 30 million of Oceania ’s 43 million residents live in Australia and New Zealand , which were colonized by the English .
In this part of the world , many tribal peoples hadno tradition of using surnames . alternatively of adopting ( or being force to espouse ) their colonizers ' surnames , as occur elsewhere , they developed a tradition of have last name based on the first name given to their ancestors by their conqueror .
5 Most Common Last Names in South America
You may be expecting more Hispanic surnames here since so many hoi polloi in South America speak Spanish . But the continent ’s largest country , Brazil , is domicile to roughlyhalf of the continent ’s population . And Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese , so Portuguese surnames sovereignty .
Interestingly , Ferreira means " blacksmith " while da Silva is a person from the woodlands .
Where Do Last Names Come From?
Scholars saycultures that use surnames generally engage them to describe one of five characteristics .
Colonization as an Exception
Yet not every last name fits into one of these categories .
Enslaved people were often forced to take the surnames of their subjugator , which is why many Black people in the U.S. have European surnames such as Williams , Davis or Jackson . In fact , when you wait at the most vulgar cognomen around the earth , you ’ll see they contemplate the world ’s most predominant colonizer : the English , Spanish , Chinese andMuslims .
Marriage
In English - speaking cultures , it ’s long been the custom for women to change their maiden name to their married man ’s surname upon marriage . That practice has been on the decline since the nineteenth - century feminist trend , though .
Multiple Surnames for Individual People
Andin Mexico , people are dedicate two last name : the father ’s surname , followed by the female parent ’s ( for example , Catalina González Martínez . ) When addressing someone , though , the protocol is to habituate only the Padre ’s surname , so Catalina would be called Catalina González .
Assimilation
Then there ’s the issue of migration . When people transmigrate to another land or civilisation , they may alter their surname to easily match that of their new homeland .
Take 20th - centuryimmigrantsto the United States : ManyAnglicized their surnamesto well imbibe into U.S. culture , or simplified them because their last name were unmanageable for Americans to write or pronounce . So a Polish cognomen such as Ziolkowski , for example , might have been abridge to Zill .
Other time , illiterate immigrants did n’t actualize a clerk , nosecount actor or other functionary had misspelled their surname . Thus , a Joseph Heyer may have unknowingly become Joseph Hire .
The Most Common Last Name on Earth
There ’s no doubt about which surname is the most popular in the world : Wang . More than106 million peoplehave the last name Wang , a Mandarin condition for " prince " or " king . "
It ’s not too surprising that many of the top surnames are Chinese , as China has one of the world ’s largest population . As of 2022 , it was home to1.45 billion the great unwashed , or 18.5 percent of the domain ’s total .
Why Wang?
The grounds Wang tops all other Chinese last names may be traced to theXin dynasty , which start out in 9 C.E. and was headed by Emperor Wang Mang .
Mang and his Xin dynasty involve away mightiness from the Liu family , who were successor of the Han dynasty , so many royal families adopt this surname to protect their lives and wealth . From there , the name proliferate throughout the C .
