US Most Popular Last Names in the 2000 Census

Updated on May 9, 2026.

Data Source: US Census Bureau.

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In the 2000 Census, the most popular last name in the US was Smith, with a count of 2,376,206 people having that last name at an occurence rate of 880.85 per 100K. The second most popular last name was Johnson (with 1,857,160 people, and an occurence rate of 688.44 per 100K). The third most popular last name was Williams (with 1,534,042 people, and an occurence rate of 568.66 per 100K).

The table below below shows the top 1000 most popular last names in the US in the 2000 Census.