Arkansas Surnames – Most Common Last Names & Meanings

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 â€” 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

Tap a name to expand meaning

Smith english

27,000

1 in 108

Johnson english

22,000

1 in 133

Williams english

21,000

1 in 139

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Local Insight

Uniquely Arkansas

These family names rank far higher in Arkansas than nationally — a direct fingerprint of the state's specific immigration waves.

Walton english

Ranked #350 in Arkansas versus #3500 nationally. That is 3150 spots higher here.

Sam Walton relocated from Newport (Jackson County) to Bentonville (Benton County) in 1950 and built Walmart into the world's largest retailer from the same county — drawing the extended Walton family and thousands of corporate vendors and executives to Benton County across seven decades. Benton County holds the highest per-capita Walton household concentration of any U.S. county, roughly eight times the national average.

Deaton english

Ranked #280 in Arkansas versus #5500 nationally. That is 5220 spots higher here.

Deaton families arrived in the Ozark uplands of north-central Arkansas in the 1830s–1850s with the Appalachian migration from Tennessee and Kentucky, concentrating in Stone, Van Buren, and Cleburne counties along the Little Red River drainage. Arkansas holds a higher per-capita share of U.S. Deaton households than any surrounding state, reflecting the name's geographic concentration in the isolated upland counties north of the Arkansas River.

Flippin english

Ranked #850 in Arkansas versus #9000 nationally. That is 8150 spots higher here.

Thomas Flippin settled the White River valley in Marion County in the 1840s, and the town of Flippin takes its name directly from his family — one of the few Arkansas place names that preserves an early settler's surname in continuous use. The Flippin surname remains concentrated in Marion and Baxter counties, where Arkansas accounts for a disproportionate share of all U.S. Flippin households.

Bledsoe english

Ranked #320 in Arkansas versus #4500 nationally. That is 4180 spots higher here.

Bledsoe families followed the river-road migration from Tennessee into the Arkansas Ozarks — particularly Carroll, Benton, and Madison counties — in the 1820s–1840s, part of the same Scots-Irish wave that defined the upland culture of northwest Arkansas. Arkansas retains one of the higher per-capita Bledsoe concentrations in the lower 48 states, anchored in the Fayetteville-to-Harrison corridor.

Etymology

Arkansas Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

English Patronymics

Johnson leads an English patronymic tier nine-deep in Arkansas's top 20, rooted in the Scots-Irish migration that colonized the Ozark and Ouachita highlands from the 1820s onward. The depth of this patronymic tier reflects Arkansas's Appalachian heritage more than any neighboring Gulf Coast state where Spanish or French names compete for the middle ranks.

Johnson (son of John) Williams (son of William) Jones (son of John/Ioan) Wilson (son of Will)

African American Heritage Names

Williams and Jackson index significantly above the national average in eastern Arkansas, where the Delta plantation counties — Phillips, Lee, and Crittenden — produced concentrated African American communities through emancipation and the sharecropping era of the 1870s–1920s. The Delta's weight separates Arkansas's eastern surname pattern sharply from the Scots-Irish western highlands.

Williams Jackson Robinson Brown

Occupational Names

Smith anchors the occupational tier at Arkansas's top rank, with Taylor and Walker following in the middle ranks — all reflecting the English trade-name tradition carried by Appalachian migrants across the Ozark and Ouachita highlands. Smith's dominance is stronger in Arkansas than in most Gulf Coast states, where competing name groups dilute the occupational tier.

Smith (metalworker) Taylor (tailor) Walker (cloth-fuller)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Arkansas?

The most common last names in Arkansas are Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, and Brown. Smith ranks first in this statewide list, with the rest of the top group dominated by familiar Southern surnames.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau — Frequently Occurring Surnames — 2010 Census surname frequency data — primary source for all counts, ratios, and rankings
Arkansas State Archives — Territorial-era land records, county formation documents, and census data for early Arkansas surname research
Butler Center for Arkansas Studies — Resources on Delta African American history, Ozark settlement patterns, and Arkansas genealogical collections

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Smith
People named #1: 27,000
1 in every: 108 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 2,915,918
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Last Names in Arkansas

Ozark Scots-Irish and the Delta Cotton Economy

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Arkansas

Uniquely Arkansas