Most common surnames in New Zealand
The top 100 family names, ranked by how many people carry them.
| Rank | Surname | Origin & meaning | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith | English · “metalworker” | 13,667 |
| 2 | Williams | Welsh · “son of William” | 8,814 |
| 3 | Jones | Welsh · “son of John” | 8,563 |
| 4 | Brown | English · “brown-haired or brown-skinned” | 8,365 |
| 5 | Taylor | English · “tailor” | 8,048 |
| 6 | Wilson | English · “son of Will” | 8,044 |
| 7 | Scott | Scottish · “a Scot” | 7,010 |
| 8 | Anderson | Scottish/Scandinavian · “son of Andrew” | 6,986 |
| 9 | Young | English · “the younger” | 6,887 |
| 10 | Singh | Indian (Sanskrit) · “lion” | 6,880 |
| 11 | Thompson | English · “son of Thomas” | 6,705 |
| 12 | King | English · “king (nickname)” | 6,489 |
| 13 | Walker | English · “cloth fuller” | 6,485 |
| 14 | Harris | English · “son of Harry” | 6,379 |
| 15 | White | English · “fair-haired or pale” | 6,311 |
| 16 | Lee | English/Chinese/Korean · “plum tree” | 6,297 |
| 17 | Robinson | English · “son of Robin” | 6,198 |
| 18 | Edwards | English · “son of Edward” | 6,160 |
| 19 | Johnson | English · “son of John” | 6,145 |
| 20 | Stewart | Scottish · “steward” | 6,108 |
| 21 | Davis | Welsh · “son of David” | 6,052 |
| 22 | Robertson | — | 5,987 |
| 23 | Mitchell | English · “from given name Michael” | 5,897 |
| 24 | Johnston | — | 5,866 |
| 25 | Martín | English/French · “from given name Martin” | 5,838 |
| 26 | Thomas | English/Welsh · “from given name Thomas” | 5,802 |
| 27 | Watson | English/Scottish · “son of Wat (Walter)” | 5,777 |
| 28 | Turner | English · “lathe worker” | 5,764 |
| 29 | Simpson | — | 5,751 |
| 30 | Morgan | Welsh | 5,745 |
| 31 | Cooper | English · “barrel maker” | 5,682 |
| 32 | Clark | English · “clerk or scribe” | 5,668 |
| 33 | Phillips | English/Welsh · “son of Philip” | 5,630 |
| 34 | Murray | Irish/Scottish | 5,616 |
| 35 | Reid | — | 5,572 |
| 36 | Miller | English · “grain miller” | 5,567 |
| 37 | Jackson | English · “son of Jack” | 5,550 |
| 38 | Campbell | Scottish · “crooked mouth” | 5,549 |
| 39 | McDonald | — | 5,539 |
| 40 | Moore | English/Irish | 5,529 |
| 41 | Hill | English · “dweller by a hill” | 5,499 |
| 42 | Clarke | English · “clerk or scribe” | 5,442 |
| 43 | Baker | English · “baker” | 5,425 |
| 44 | Gray | English · “grey-haired” | 5,402 |
| 45 | Thomson | — | 5,399 |
| 46 | Evans | Welsh · “son of Evan” | 5,361 |
| 47 | McKenzie | — | 5,357 |
| 48 | Ward | English · “guard, watchman” | 5,351 |
| 49 | Roberts | English/Welsh · “son of Robert” | 5,310 |
| 50 | McLean | — | 5,309 |
| 51 | Parker | English · “park keeper” | 5,292 |
| 52 | Macdonald | Scottish · “son of Donald” | 5,280 |
| 53 | Marshall | — | 5,263 |
| 54 | Morris | English/Welsh · “from given name Maurice” | 5,191 |
| 55 | Davies | Welsh · “son of David” | 5,186 |
| 56 | Grant | — | 5,169 |
| 57 | Wright | English · “craftsman, builder” | 5,096 |
| 58 | Bell | — | 5,090 |
| 59 | Green | English · “dweller by the village green” | 5,037 |
| 60 | Hughes | Welsh/English · “son of Hugh” | 5,033 |
| 61 | Allen | English/Scottish · “from given name Alan” | 5,020 |
| 62 | Henderson | — | 4,993 |
| 63 | Kelly | Irish | 4,991 |
| 64 | Carter | English · “cart driver” | 4,990 |
| 65 | Shaw | — | 4,945 |
| 66 | Bennett | English · “from given name Benedict” | 4,921 |
| 67 | Hall | English · “worker at a manor hall” | 4,911 |
| 68 | Ross | Scottish · “headland” | 4,908 |
| 69 | Russell | — | 4,851 |
| 70 | Lewis | English/Welsh · “from given name Lewis” | 4,848 |
| 71 | Cook | English · “cook” | 4,739 |
| 72 | Collins | English/Irish | 4,731 |
| 73 | James | English/Welsh · “from given name James” | 4,726 |
| 74 | Sutherland | — | 4,704 |
| 75 | Gibson | — | 4,661 |
| 76 | Fraser | — | 4,634 |
| 77 | Duncan | — | 4,624 |
| 78 | Wallace | — | 4,599 |
| 79 | Graham | — | 4,597 |
| 80 | Wood | English · “dweller by a wood” | 4,576 |
| 81 | Paterson | — | 4,494 |
| 82 | Cameron | — | 4,490 |
| 83 | Hunt | — | 4,473 |
| 84 | Sinclair | — | 4,428 |
| 85 | Stevenson | — | 4,418 |
| 86 | McKay | — | 4,352 |
| 87 | Harrison | — | 4,323 |
| 88 | Murphy | Irish · “sea warrior” | 4,295 |
| 89 | Mason | — | 4,259 |
| 90 | Adams | English · “son of Adam” | 4,257 |
| 91 | Wells | — | 4,183 |
| 92 | Gordon | — | 4,177 |
| 93 | Bailey | English · “bailiff” | 4,154 |
| 94 | Ryan | Irish | 4,121 |
| 95 | Black | — | 4,119 |
| 96 | Stevens | — | 4,074 |
| 97 | Harvey | — | 4,068 |
| 98 | Kennedy | — | 4,038 |
| 99 | Hunter | — | 4,032 |
| 100 | McGregor | — | 4,000 |
Source: Forebears (non-official). Rankings are updated when the publisher releases new data.
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