Top 3 — Delaware
Patronymic meaning son of John, carried to Delaware by English settlers and widely adopted by freedmen in Wilmington after the Civil War. It ranks among the top surnames in New Castle County's historically Black neighborhoods.
Occupational name for a blacksmith or metalworker. Wilmington's iron foundries and shipyards on the Christina River made it one of the most durable surnames in Delaware's industrial community.
Welsh patronymic meaning son of William, common among Welsh Quakers who settled New Castle County in the 1680s. Wilmington's African American community also carried the name north from Maryland and Virginia during the late 1800s.
Name origins — top 20 surnames
Name origins - top 20 surnamesName origins — top 20 surnames
Heritage
Welsh Quakers, Swedish Colonists, and Wilmington's Working Class
Welsh Quakers settled New Castle County in the late 1600s, seeding surnames like Jones, Davis, and Lewis across northern Delaware. Wilmington's industrial boom drew African American families from Maryland and Virginia, and Swedish colonists from Fort Christina left traces in names like Hendrickson and Rambo still found in the Delaware Valley.
Did you know? The Rambo surname traces to a Swedish colonial family that arrived along the Christina River near present-day Wilmington in 1640, making it one of the few common American surnames with documented New Sweden roots.
Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Delaware
Showing all 20 surnames
#1
Smith
english
7,600
1 in 118
#2
Johnson
english
7,200
1 in 125
#3
Williams
welsh
7,000
1 in 128
#4
Brown
english
5,600
1 in 160
#5
Jones
welsh
4,800
1 in 187
#6
Davis
welsh
3,900
1 in 230
#7
Miller
english
3,300
1 in 272
#8
Wilson
english
2,900
1 in 309
#9
Taylor
english
2,800
1 in 321
#10
Moore
english
2,700
1 in 332
#11
Anderson
english
2,500
1 in 359
#12
Thomas
welsh
2,400
1 in 374
#13
Jackson
english
2,400
1 in 374
#14
White
english
2,200
1 in 408
#15
Harris
english
2,200
1 in 408
#16
Martin
french
2,000
1 in 449
#17
Thompson
english
2,000
1 in 449
#18
Robinson
english
1,800
1 in 499
#19
Clark
english
1,700
1 in 528
#20
Lewis
welsh
1,700
1 in 528
Local Insight
Uniquely Delaware
These family names rank far higher in Delaware than nationally — a direct fingerprint of the state's specific immigration waves.
Ranked #2500 in Delaware versus #12000 nationally. That is 9500 spots higher here.
Swedish colonists arrived with the New Sweden expedition along the Christina River starting in 1640, and the Rambo family was among the earliest documented settlers. Their descendants spread through New Castle County and adjacent Pennsylvania, keeping the name concentrated in the Delaware Valley.
Ranked #600 in Delaware versus #1500 nationally. That is 900 spots higher here.
Swedish patronymic meaning son of Hendrick, from the New Sweden colony founded at Fort Christina in 1638. Families with this name appear in early New Castle County land records and remained in the Wilmington area for generations.
Ranked #3000 in Delaware versus #35000 nationally. That is 32000 spots higher here.
German immigrant families with this name settled in Kent County during the 18th century, where the surname stayed locally concentrated and remained rare outside Delaware. It appears in Dover-area church records by the mid-1700s.
Ranked #4500 in Delaware versus #20000 nationally. That is 15500 spots higher here.
Dutch colonial families used this name in the Delaware Valley during the early settlement period before English takeover in 1664. It persisted in New Castle County records through the colonial and early national periods.
Etymology
Delaware Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational
English Occupational
Occupational surnames thrived in colonial Delaware's mill towns and port cities. Wilmington's iron foundries, grain mills along the Brandywine, and shipbuilding yards produced generations of Smiths, Millers, and Taylors. Clark reflects the colony's active merchant and legal class centered in New Castle.
Welsh Patronymic
Welsh Quakers arrived in New Castle County in the 1680s, establishing tight-knit communities along the Brandywine Creek. Surnames like Jones, Davis, Williams, and Lewis were carried by families from Pembrokeshire and Merioneth and remain concentrated in northern Delaware today.
African American Heritage
Wilmington became a significant destination for African American families from Maryland and Virginia after the Civil War, drawn by the leather, shipbuilding, and textile industries. Names like Johnson, Jackson, and Robinson are heavily concentrated in the city's historically Black neighborhoods.
Swedish Colonial
The New Sweden colony, founded at Fort Christina in 1638, left a small but distinctive surname layer in the Delaware Valley. Patronymics like Anderson and Hendrickson, along with farm-origin names like Rambo, survive in New Castle County records and represent the oldest non-English surname stratum in Delaware.
Quick Answers
What are the most common last names in Delaware?
What Delaware surnames reflect Swedish colonial history?
Why are Welsh surnames so common in Delaware?
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — Frequently Occurring Surnames — 2010 Census surname frequency data — primary source for all counts, ratios, and rankings
- Historical Society of Delaware — Repository for colonial Delaware records, Quaker meeting records, and land documents used to trace surname origins in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties
- #1 Surname
- Smith
- People named #1
- 7,600
- 1 in every
- 118 residents
- Top origin
- English
- State population
- 897,934
- Census year
- 2010
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