If you decide to not hire a Genealogist, you may find yourself trying to determine what an unfamiliar Irish last name is from an old document, such as a Death Certificate or a Marriage Record. This list will help identify some of those names.

List of Most Common Irish Last Names

1. Murphy – the sea battlers
2. Kelly – the bright-headed ones
3. O’Sullivan – the hawkeyed ones
4. Walsh – the Welshmen
5. O’Brien – the noblemen
6. Byrne – the ravens
7. Ryan – the little kings
8. O’Connor – patrons of warriors
9. O’Neill – from a champion, Niall of the Nine Hostages
10. O’Reilly

Note – The names Smith and Murray both made the top 10, but Smith is British and Murray of Scottish origin, so they are excluded from the list.

Source: Irishcentral.com

Tracing Your Irish Family History

Last Name Meanings Pages

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This List consists of the 50 most common last names in Great Britain today. Not all names are of British origin.

List of Most Common English Last Names

1 Smith
2 Jones
3 Williams
4 Brown
5 Taylor
6 Davis
7 Wilson
8 Evans
9 Thomas
10 Johnson
11 Roberts
12 Walker
13 Wright
14 Robinson
15 Thompson
16 White
17 Hughes
18 Edwards
19 Green
20 Hall
21 Wood
22 Harris
23 Lewis
24 Martin
25 Jackson
26 Clarke
27 Clark
28 Turner
29 Hill
30 Scott
31 Cooper
32 Morris
33 Ward
34 Moore
35 King
36 Watson
37 Baker
38 Harrison
39 Morgan
40 Patel
41 Young
42 Allen
43 Mitchell
44 James
45 Anderson
46 Phillips
47 Lee
48 Bell
49 Parker

Last Name Meanings Pages

Last Name Meanings
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If you decide to not hire a Genealogist, you may find yourself trying to determine what an unfamiliar Spanish last name is from an old document, such as a Death Certificate or a Marriage Record. This list will help identify some of those names.

Understand that this list is the most common names of Spanish origin, in America, but not of people descended directly from Spain. Most “Americans” with “Spanish” Last names came to America after many generations in Central or South America. This list is by current population in America, of Spanish origin.

List of Most Common Spanish Last Names

1 GARCIA
2 RODRIGUEZ
3 MARTINEZ
4 HERNANDEZ
5 LOPEZ
6 GONZALEZ
7 PEREZ
8 SANCHEZ
9 RAMIREZ
10 TORRES
11 FLORES
12 RIVERA
13 GOMEZ
14 DIAZ
15 REYES
16 MORALES
17 CRUZ
18 ORTIZ
19 GUTIERREZ
20 CHAVEZ
21 RAMOS
22 GONZALES
23 RUIZ
24 ALVAREZ
25 MENDOZA
26 VASQUEZ
27 CASTILLO
28 JIMENEZ
29 MORENO
30 ROMERO
31 HERRERA
32 MEDINA
33 AGUILAR
34 GARZA
35 CASTRO
36 VARGAS
37 FERNANDEZ
38 GUZMAN
39 MUNOZ
40 MENDEZ
41 SALAZAR
42 SOTO
43 DELGADO
44 PENA
45 RIOS
46 ALVARADO
47 SANDOVAL
48 CONTRERAS
49 VALDEZ
50 GUERRERO
51 ORTEGA
52 ESTRADA
53 NUNEZ
54 MALDONADO
55 VEGA
56 VAZQUEZ
57 SANTIAGO
58 DOMINGUEZ
59 ESPINOZA
60 SILVA
61 PADILLA
62 MARQUEZ
63 CORTEZ
64 ROJAS
65 ACOSTA
66 FIGUEROA
67 LUNA
68 JUAREZ
69 NAVARRO
70 CAMPOS
71 MOLINA
72 AVILA
73 AYALA
74 MEJIA
75 CARRILLO
76 DURAN
77 SANTOS
78 SALINAS
79 ROBLES
80 SOLIS
81 LARA
82 CERVANTES
83 AGUIRRE
84 DELEON
85 OCHOA
86 MIRANDA
87 CARDENAS
88 TRUJILLO
89 VELASQUEZ
90 FUENTES
91 CABRERA
92 LEON
93 RIVAS
94 MONTOYA
95 CALDERON
96 COLON
97 SERRANO
98 GALLEGOS
99 ROSALES
100 CASTANEDA
101 VILLARREAL

Source: Mongabay.com

Last Name Meanings Pages

Last Name Meanings
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While New York is not exactly booming with French Ancestry, you may still find a French surname on an old document, such as a Death Certificate or a Marriage Record. This list will help identify some of those names.

List of Most Common French Surnames

Source: Behindthename.com

Surname Meaning Pages

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If you decide to not hire a Genealogist, you may find yourself trying to determine what an unfamiliar German Last Name is from an old document, such as a Death Certificate or a Marriage Record. This list will help identify some of those names.

List of Most Common German Last Names

This is a list of the top 100 common German Surnames according to 2012’s German phonebooks.  The list includes the English translation / definition.  
 

Last Name Meanings Pages

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Surname Meanings

One of the first things that spark an interest in many of my clients is the meaning of their surname.  What exactly does their surname mean?  Some surnames have obvious meanings, and some do not.  No Genealogy website would be complete without a list of surname definitions.

This page will be updated on a regular basis and expanded as time allows.  I am going to use the Census.gov page as a guide for the top 10 most common names for now:

Top 10 most popular American Surnames in the 2000 US Census

1)  Smith  –  Meaning of name “Smith” – metal worker, blacksmith” from Old English smið, derived from smitan “to smite, to hit”.

2)  Johnson  –  Meaning of name “Johnson” – son of John

3)  Williams  –  Meaning of name “Williams” – son of William

4)  Brown  –  Meaning of name “Brown” – Originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin

5)  Jones  –  Meaning of name “Jones” – Derived from the given name Jon, a medieval variant of John

6)  Miller  –  Meaning of name “Miller” – Occupational surname referring to a person who owned or worked in a grain mill.

7)  Davis  –  Meaning of name “Davis” – Son of David

8 ) Garcia  –  Meaning of name “Garcia” – According to Elsdon C. Smith, author of “American Surnames,” the name Garcia could mean either “descendant of Garcia, Spanish form of Gerald” or “one who came from Garcia, in Spain.  Or, derived from the Basque word hartz, meaning “bear.”

9)  Rodriguez  –  Meaning of name “Rodriguez” –  Son of Rodrigo

10) Wilson  –  Meaning of name “Wilson” – Son of WIll

Surname Meaning Pages

Surname Meanings
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