Genealogy & Demographics Arkansas 2026 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Arkansas

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Arkansas

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2026 Census

Top 3 — Arkansas

#2 english
Johnson
Patronymic
22,000 people
1 in every 133 Arkansas residents

Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious) passed through Greek, Latin, and medieval English before John became the dominant given name in English parishes — and Johnson its natural patronymic. Johnson County, Arkansas was formed in 1833 and named for federal judge Benjamin Johnson, reflecting how thoroughly the surname had penetrated the territorial establishment by statehood.

#1 english
Smith
Occupational
27,000 people
1 in every 108 Arkansas residents

Old English 'smið' for metalworker became the most widely recorded occupational surname in England by the 13th century. Smith families carried the name into the Ozark and Ouachita mountains with the Scots-Irish migration from Tennessee and Kentucky after 1815, and it has held Arkansas's top rank through every subsequent census.

#3 english
Williams
Patronymic
21,000 people
1 in every 139 Arkansas residents

Norman 'Willahelm' — will plus helm — made William the dominant post-Conquest given name in England, and Williams its patronymic heir. Williams concentrations peak in the Arkansas Delta counties of Phillips and Crittenden, where African American families carried or established the name through emancipation and the sharecropping economy of the 1870s–1910s.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Ozark Scots-Irish and the Delta Cotton Economy

Scots-Irish families from Tennessee and Kentucky colonized the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains after Arkansas Territory opened in 1819, filling Benton, Carroll, and Boone counties with Smith, Jones, and Wilson at densities above the national average. The Delta's plantation economy in Phillips and Mississippi counties produced the African American Williams and Jackson concentrations that set eastern Arkansas apart from the Scots-Irish highlands.

Did you know? Sam Walton relocated from Newport (Jackson County) to Bentonville (Benton County) in 1950 after his landlord reclaimed his store lease — a forced move that planted the Walton family in Benton County permanently and eventually produced the world's largest retailer at that same address.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Arkansas

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Smith english
27,000
1 in 108
Old English 'smið' for metalworker became the most widely recorded occupational surname in England by the 13th century. Smith families carried the name into the Ozark and Ouachita mountains with the Scots-Irish migration from Tennessee and Kentucky after 1815, and it has held Arkansas's top rank through every subsequent census.
#2
Johnson english
22,000
1 in 133
Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious) passed through Greek, Latin, and medieval English before John became the dominant given name in English parishes — and Johnson its natural patronymic. Johnson County, Arkansas was formed in 1833 and named for federal judge Benjamin Johnson, reflecting how thoroughly the surname had penetrated the territorial establishment by statehood.
#3
Williams english
21,000
1 in 139
Norman 'Willahelm' — will plus helm — made William the dominant post-Conquest given name in England, and Williams its patronymic heir. Williams concentrations peak in the Arkansas Delta counties of Phillips and Crittenden, where African American families carried or established the name through emancipation and the sharecropping economy of the 1870s–1910s.
#4
Jones welsh
19,000
1 in 153
The defining Welsh patronymic — son of John via 'Ioan' — spread through Appalachia as Welsh and Scots-Irish settlers mingled in the Virginia and Carolina highlands before moving west. Jones families crossed into Carroll, Benton, and Madison counties in the Ozarks from the 1820s onward, giving northwestern Arkansas a Jones density still above the national per-capita average.
#5
Brown english
18,000
1 in 162
From Old English 'brún', describing brown hair or complexion — one of England's oldest descriptive surnames. Brown appears in both the Ozarks Scots-Irish communities and the Delta African American farming settlements, giving it an unusually even east-west distribution across Arkansas's two dominant cultural regions.
#6
Davis english
14,000
1 in 208
Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dāwīḏ' (beloved), reached English largely via the Welsh form Dafydd — giving Davis a distinctly Appalachian character despite widespread English use. Davis families settled the White River valley in Independence and Izard counties in the 1830s–1850s, carried by migrants pushing west from Tennessee.
#7
Wilson english
10,800
1 in 270
Son of Will, a contraction of William, Wilson spread through northern England and Scotland before Scots-Irish settlers carried it across the Appalachians and into the Arkansas river valleys. Wilson concentrations appear in the Arkansas River counties — Yell, Conway, and Faulkner — part of the Scots-Irish belt stretching from central Arkansas west toward Fort Smith.
#8
Taylor english
9,600
1 in 304
Old French 'tailleur', one who cuts cloth, entered English as a trade name so common it became hereditary in every county by the 14th century. Taylor reached every Arkansas county with the Scots-Irish migration of the 1820s–1850s, concentrating in Izard and Fulton counties in the Ozark highlands where families persisted through the timber era of the 1890s–1910s.
#9
Thomas english
9,200
1 in 317
Aramaic 'Tʼōmā' (twin) — the apostle's name spread across medieval Christendom into every English-speaking household. Thomas concentrations appear in both Washington County (the Fayetteville corridor) and the Mississippi Delta, reflecting the name's presence across both the Scots-Irish highland communities and the African American plantation counties.
#10
Martin english
9,000
1 in 324
Latin 'Martinus' (of Mars), popularized through the feast of Saint Martin of Tours, became one of the most recorded given names in medieval Christendom. Martin families settled the Ouachita Mountain counties of Polk, Scott, and Montgomery in the 1830s–1850s alongside the military road that connected Little Rock to Fort Smith.
#11
Anderson scottish
8,700
1 in 335
Son of Anders (Andrew), from Greek 'Andreas' (manly), spread through Scotland and northern England with settlers who favored the apostle's name. Anderson families homesteaded the White River plateau in Baxter and Marion counties from the 1840s onward, part of the later Scots-Irish wave that pushed into the more remote Ozark drainages after better river-valley land was taken.
#12
Thompson english
8,400
1 in 347
Son of Thom, with the 'p' inserted as a 15th-century scribal spelling convention. Thompson families appear in early Pulaski County records from the 1820s–1830s, when Little Rock was established as the territorial capital and drew the first wave of Anglo-American merchants and landowners from older Southern states.
#13
White english
8,100
1 in 360
From Old English 'hwīt', white hair or pale complexion. White families concentrated in the Grand Prairie region of Prairie County from the 1840s onward, where Scots-Irish settlers found open grassland between the Arkansas River and the Ozark foothills suited to the stock-raising they had practiced in Tennessee.
#14
Jackson english
7,900
1 in 369
Medieval 'Jack' — a diminutive of John so common it briefly served as a generic English word for any common man — produced Jackson throughout the British Isles. Jackson concentrations peak in the Delta counties of Lee, Phillips, and St. Francis, where African American families established surnames through emancipation and the sharecropping era of the 1870s–1910s.
#15
Harris english
7,100
1 in 411
Germanic 'Haimric' (home-ruler) gave English the given name Harry and its patronymic Harris. Harris families settled Saline and Garland counties along the Ouachita River in the 1840s–1860s, part of the westward migration following the military road that connected Little Rock to Fort Smith.
#16
Moore english
7,000
1 in 417
From Old English 'mōr', someone near open uncultivated moorland. Moore appears in Sebastian County records from the 1840s–1850s as Anglo settlers followed the Arkansas River west toward Fort Smith and the Indian Territory border, planting the name in the river-valley farming communities of western Arkansas.
#17
Robinson english
6,500
1 in 449
Son of Robin, a medieval diminutive of Robert (Germanic 'Hrōdbert', fame-bright). Robinson concentrations appear in Pulaski County's African American neighborhoods in Little Rock, established during the post-emancipation migration from the Delta plantation counties of Phillips and Lee.
#18
Walker english
6,400
1 in 456
Old English 'wealcere', one who treads cloth to full it — a textile trade name that became hereditary across England. Walker families settled the Arkansas River valley counties of Pope and Yell in the 1830s–1840s, part of the Scots-Irish migration moving west from the Mississippi River crossing near Memphis.
#19
Allen english
6,200
1 in 471
Possibly from a Breton Celtic personal name 'Alaon', carried to England by Norman settlers after 1066 and spread through the British Isles as a common given name. Allen families are documented in Benton County records from the 1830s–1840s, among the earliest Scots-Irish homesteaders in the fertile Northwest Arkansas valleys.
#20
Lewis welsh
5,800
1 in 503
Germanic 'Hlūdwig' (famous warrior) filtered through Old French as Louis before becoming Lewis in English — and independently derives from Llywelyn in Welsh. Lewis appears in early Hempstead County records (southwestern Arkansas) from the 1820s–1840s, part of the Red River valley corridor connecting the older Southern states to Arkansas Territory.
#1 Surname
Smith
People named #1
27,000
1 in every
108 residents
Top origin
English
State population
2,915,918
Census year
2026

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