Top Ten Black Last Names

Smith has long been the most common surname in both the United States and Great Britain. Each U.S. census lists more and more Smiths, from 274,919 in 1850 to 2,376,206 in 2000. Yet the name is far from generic and has a rich and complicated history.

The origins of the last name “Jones” can be traced back to the United Kingdom and more specifically, the countries of England and Wales. The Jones surname (last name) is derived from the English given name of “John” or the Welsh names “Sion” or “Ieuan”.

The following is a list of the most common surnames for people who self-identified as "Black" in America during the 2000 Census [updated data]. The data, which may include people who identified themselves as African-American, African, or other ethnic or racial groups, is derived from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

List: Most common last names for Blacks in the United States

Some examples of this are the popular Swedish name Johansson which was frequently changed to Johnson, and the German Müller which became Miller. Some very common Swedish names were so similar that only a minor change of spelling was necessary, such as Andersson and Jonsson, which is why these names are much more common in the U.S. than in the United Kingdom.

List: Most common last names for Blacks in the United States