The data release is a tally of all the first names reported in the 2020 Census and a separate tally of the last names. It is not a release of the full legal names of census respondents.

The term “predominantly” is used where the majority of people using certain names identified with a single Race, Hispanic origin, or Sex category. For example, “Garcia” is a predominantly Hispanic last name because 91% of the people named Garcia chose Hispanic in their response to the 2020 Census.

The top five last names (Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones) were the same for three decades — 2000, 2010 and 2020 — and among the top 15 in 1790 (Figure 1).

“It is certainly surprising given the enormous change in population since then … and the immigration in that period from all around the world,” said Joshua Comenetz, senior geographer at the Census Bureau and manager of the Census Names Project.

The rise in predominantly Hispanic last names between 2000 and 2020 is also notable.

In 2000, the top 50 last names included 10 that were used at least 90% of the time by respondents who identified as Hispanic. Garcia, the top-ranked among them in 8th place in 2000, jumped to 6th in 2010.

In the 2020 count, the rankings had largely stabilized. All the top 15 last names held their place except for Rodriguez, which bumped up into 8th place, moving Davis down a notch.

Last names tend to cluster by racial and Hispanic origin group, and each group experiences a different amount of clustering.

For example, people of Hispanic or Latino origin have the highest percentage of their population (14.2%) sharing the group’s top 10 last names (Table 1).

In other words, fewer names cover a larger swath of the Hispanic or Latino population compared to other groups.

“I’m not surprised there,” Comenetz says, “because the most common predominantly Hispanic names have one language origin.”

In contrast, respondents who identified as White alone (i.e., White and no other race or origin) had the smallest percentage of their population (4.4%) using the top 10 last names for their racial group.

In short, a greater number of last names was needed to cover 25% of the White alone population compared to the other groups.

Differences in concentration may influence which names climb the ranks.

All but one of the fastest-growing last names among the top 1,000 were predominantly Asian between 2010 and 2020 (Table 2).

This reflects a shift in immigration patterns. The 2000 to 2010 list of fastest growing names included several predominantly Hispanic names.

“Among the fastest growing names list, they’re all predominantly Asian, except the name Ali,” said Comenetz. “It’s common in South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.”

First name data are available for the first time since 1990.

Despite women outnumbering men in the United States, the top five first names among the 2020 U.S. population were traditionally male: Michael, John, James, David and Robert.

Why? Because a larger fraction of men share the most common male names, while a smaller fraction of women share the most common female names.

“Sixteen percent of men have the top 10 male names,” said Comenetz. “For women, it’s only a little under 8%.”

In other words, women had more first name variety than men.

Compared to men, nearly three times as many names were needed to cover 25% of the female population (Table 3).

This is reflected in the overall first name ranking, where eight of the top 10 most common first names are predominantly male (Table 4).

How popular is your name for newborns? You can find out by looking at the annual Social Security Administration (SSA) release of babies’ first names, with data going back to the 1800s.

Comparing the 2020 first name datasets from SSA and the Census Bureau, there is little overlap between the two lists (Table 5). The SSA counts the names of the babies born in 2020, while the Census Bureau counts the names of all respondents.

This comparison shows that there is not much overlap in the popularity of names of babies born in 2020 and the names of the total U.S. population that year.

“The census represents a kind of average of everybody currently living here,” says Comenetz. “There’s so much variety in how people name their kids that a single year does not fit the average.”

Most first names are used 95% or more of the time by either men or women exclusively but there are a few that are equally common among both.

Some in the top 1,000 first names are close to a 50/50 split between the sexes (Table 6).

Popular first names may come and go, but it’s clear the most common last names have staying power.

“Despite all the changes in population, I suspect Smith would still be the most popular last name in 2075,” said Comenetz. “I’d be surprised if it isn’t.”