Most common surnames in United Kingdom
The top 100 family names, ranked by how many people carry them.
| Rank | Surname | Origin & meaning | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith | English · “metalworker” | 632,854 |
| 2 | Jones | Welsh · “son of John” | 380,441 |
| 3 | Taylor | English · “tailor” | 293,387 |
| 4 | Brown | English · “brown-haired or brown-skinned” | 283,796 |
| 5 | Williams | Welsh · “son of William” | 271,532 |
| 6 | Wilson | English · “son of Will” | 195,974 |
| 7 | Johnson | English · “son of John” | 191,454 |
| 8 | Davies | Welsh · “son of David” | 175,818 |
| 9 | Patel | Indian (Gujarati) · “village headman” | 166,747 |
| 10 | Robinson | English · “son of Robin” | 161,345 |
| 11 | Wright | English · “craftsman, builder” | 159,044 |
| 12 | Thompson | English · “son of Thomas” | 157,859 |
| 13 | Evans | Welsh · “son of Evan” | 154,661 |
| 14 | Walker | English · “cloth fuller” | 151,806 |
| 15 | White | English · “fair-haired or pale” | 149,521 |
| 16 | Roberts | English/Welsh · “son of Robert” | 145,964 |
| 17 | Green | English · “dweller by the village green” | 143,420 |
| 18 | Hall | English · “worker at a manor hall” | 141,455 |
| 19 | Thomas | English/Welsh · “from given name Thomas” | 138,978 |
| 20 | Clarke | English · “clerk or scribe” | 135,417 |
| 21 | Jackson | English · “son of Jack” | 134,658 |
| 22 | Wood | English · “dweller by a wood” | 132,216 |
| 23 | Harris | English · “son of Harry” | 131,638 |
| 24 | Edwards | English · “son of Edward” | 128,848 |
| 25 | Turner | English · “lathe worker” | 127,933 |
| 26 | Martín | English/French · “from given name Martin” | 123,987 |
| 27 | Cooper | English · “barrel maker” | 122,070 |
| 28 | Hill | English · “dweller by a hill” | 118,613 |
| 29 | Ward | English · “guard, watchman” | 116,268 |
| 30 | Hughes | Welsh/English · “son of Hugh” | 116,131 |
| 31 | Moore | English/Irish | 115,697 |
| 32 | Clark | English · “clerk or scribe” | 114,204 |
| 33 | King | English · “king (nickname)” | 112,569 |
| 34 | Harrison | — | 111,247 |
| 35 | Lewis | English/Welsh · “from given name Lewis” | 110,925 |
| 36 | Baker | English · “baker” | 110,252 |
| 37 | Lee | English/Chinese/Korean · “plum tree” | 106,730 |
| 38 | Allen | English/Scottish · “from given name Alan” | 105,396 |
| 39 | Morris | English/Welsh · “from given name Maurice” | 104,537 |
| 40 | Khan | Turkic/Mongolic · “ruler” | 102,864 |
| 41 | Scott | Scottish · “a Scot” | 102,407 |
| 42 | Watson | English/Scottish · “son of Wat (Walter)” | 98,554 |
| 43 | Davis | Welsh · “son of David” | 96,234 |
| 44 | Parker | English · “park keeper” | 95,779 |
| 45 | James | English/Welsh · “from given name James” | 90,940 |
| 46 | Bennett | English · “from given name Benedict” | 90,598 |
| 47 | Young | English · “the younger” | 88,507 |
| 48 | Phillips | English/Welsh · “son of Philip” | 87,697 |
| 49 | Richardson | English · “son of Richard” | 87,340 |
| 50 | Mitchell | English · “from given name Michael” | 87,050 |
| 51 | Bailey | English · “bailiff” | 86,818 |
| 52 | Carter | English · “cart driver” | 86,529 |
| 53 | Cook | English · “cook” | 85,580 |
| 54 | Singh | Indian (Sanskrit) · “lion” | 84,844 |
| 55 | Shaw | — | 84,746 |
| 56 | Bell | — | 84,249 |
| 57 | Collins | English/Irish | 82,788 |
| 58 | Morgan | Welsh | 82,192 |
| 59 | Kelly | Irish | 79,647 |
| 60 | Begum | — | 78,903 |
| 61 | Miller | English · “grain miller” | 78,741 |
| 62 | Cox | English | 77,655 |
| 63 | Hussain | — | 77,516 |
| 64 | Marshall | — | 76,794 |
| 65 | Simpson | — | 76,078 |
| 66 | Price | Welsh · “son of Rhys” | 75,759 |
| 67 | Anderson | Scottish/Scandinavian · “son of Andrew” | 75,303 |
| 68 | Adams | English · “son of Adam” | 73,742 |
| 69 | Wilkinson | — | 73,591 |
| 70 | Ali | Arabic · “exalted” | 72,981 |
| 71 | Ahmed | — | 72,373 |
| 72 | Foster | English · “forester” | 71,523 |
| 73 | Ellis | — | 71,226 |
| 74 | Murphy | Irish · “sea warrior” | 71,218 |
| 75 | Chapman | — | 70,611 |
| 76 | Mason | — | 67,755 |
| 77 | Gray | English · “grey-haired” | 67,649 |
| 78 | Richards | — | 66,435 |
| 79 | Webb | — | 65,838 |
| 80 | Griffiths | — | 65,780 |
| 81 | Hunt | — | 64,659 |
| 82 | Palmer | — | 63,671 |
| 83 | Campbell | Scottish · “crooked mouth” | 63,135 |
| 84 | Holmes | — | 62,849 |
| 85 | Mills | — | 62,253 |
| 86 | Rogers | English · “son of Roger” | 62,214 |
| 87 | Barnes | — | 61,288 |
| 88 | Knight | — | 61,179 |
| 89 | Matthews | — | 60,659 |
| 90 | Barker | — | 60,260 |
| 91 | Powell | — | 60,254 |
| 92 | Stevens | — | 58,997 |
| 93 | Kaur | Indian (Punjabi) · “princess” | 58,790 |
| 94 | Fisher | — | 58,603 |
| 95 | Butler | — | 58,594 |
| 96 | Dixon | — | 58,505 |
| 97 | Russell | — | 58,176 |
| 98 | Harvey | — | 57,446 |
| 99 | Pearson | — | 56,955 |
| 100 | Graham | — | 56,009 |
Source: Forebears (non-official). Rankings are updated when the publisher releases new data.
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