Most Common Last Names in Hawaii

#1

Lee korean

7,900

1 in 172

Lee (리/李) derives from the Chinese character for plum tree and is shared by Korean, Chinese, and English families. In Hawaii, its prominence reflects Honolulu's historic Chinatown and the Korean community that arrived as plantation workers after 1903.

#2

Kim korean

7,200

1 in 189

Kim (김/金) means gold in Korean and is the most common surname in Korea. Korean immigration to Hawaii began with plantation workers in 1903, and Honolulu's Korean community has sustained the name's visibility for over a century.

#3

Nakamura japanese

6,600

1 in 206

Nakamura means 'middle village' in Japanese, from naka (middle) and mura (village). It arrived in Hawaii with kanyaku imin government-contract workers beginning in 1885, settling across Oahu and Maui plantations.

#4

Smith english

6,200

1 in 219

Smith derives from the Old English smið, referring to a metalworker or craftsman. Its presence in Hawaii grew steadily with American missionaries, merchants, and military families from the nineteenth century onward.

#5

Wong chinese

5,900

1 in 230

Wong (王/黃) is one of the most common Chinese surnames, meaning king or yellow depending on the character. Chinese workers arrived in Hawaii's plantations as early as the 1850s, and Honolulu's Chinatown became the center of Chinese-Hawaiian family life.

#6

Johnson english

5,500

1 in 247

Johnson means 'son of John' and ranks among the most common English-origin surnames in the United States. Military expansion after Pearl Harbor brought large numbers of Johnson families to Oahu, many of whom remained permanently.

#7

Yamamoto japanese

5,100

1 in 267

Yamamoto means 'base of the mountain' in Japanese (yama = mountain, moto = base). It became established in Hawaii through Issei plantation workers from Hiroshima and Kumamoto prefectures who arrived in the late nineteenth century.

#8

Park korean

4,800

1 in 283

Park (박/朴) is one of three dominant surnames in Korea and is derived from a word meaning gourd or plain. Early Korean plantation workers who settled in Honolulu after 1903 established the name's lasting presence on Oahu.

#9

Williams welsh

4,600

1 in 296

Williams means 'son of William' and entered Hawaii with American Protestant missionaries from New England in the early nineteenth century. The name spread further through military and federal government workers stationed on Oahu.

#10

Tanaka japanese

4,300

1 in 316

Tanaka means 'middle of the rice field' in Japanese (ta = rice field, naka = middle). It is especially common on Maui and the Big Island, where Japanese plantation families worked the sugar and pineapple fields through the early twentieth century.

#11

Silva portuguese

4,100

1 in 332

Silva comes from the Latin silva, meaning forest or woodland. Portuguese families from the Azores brought Silva to Hawaii beginning in 1878, and it remains concentrated on Maui and the Big Island where their descendants settled.

#12

Santos portuguese

3,900

1 in 349

Santos means 'saints' in Portuguese and Spanish, often given to families associated with All Saints' Day. In Hawaii, both Azorean plantation families and Filipino immigrants who arrived after 1906 carry this surname.

#13

Jones welsh

3,700

1 in 368

Jones means 'son of John' in Welsh and is the most common Welsh surname. It entered Hawaii with American missionaries and settlers in the nineteenth century and grew through military and civilian employment on Oahu.

#14

Chong chinese

3,500

1 in 389

Chong (鍾/鄭) is shared by Chinese and Korean clan lineages. Honolulu's Chinatown, established by the 1860s, was the anchor of early Chinese-Hawaiian community life where surnames like Chong became well represented.

#15

Brown english

3,400

1 in 400

Brown derives from the Old English brún, originally describing someone with brown hair or complexion. Its presence in Hawaii reflects both early American commercial settlers and the military community that grew on Oahu after the 1890s.

#16

Suzuki japanese

3,200

1 in 425

Suzuki relates to the Japanese word for pampas grass and is one of Japan's most common surnames. Okinawan and mainland Japanese communities on Oahu and Maui contributed significantly to this surname's local presence.

#17

Freitas portuguese

3,100

1 in 439

Freitas refers to lands once associated with a convent or religious house in medieval Portugal. Portuguese families from Madeira and the Azores brought Freitas to Hawaii's Big Island and Maui during plantation recruitment in the 1870s and 1880s.

#18

Reyes spanish

2,900

1 in 469

Reyes means 'kings' in Spanish and is common across the Philippines, a legacy of Spanish colonial naming. Filipino sakadas (contract workers) who arrived in Hawaii after 1906 carried Reyes from the Ilocos region of Luzon.

#19

Rodrigues portuguese

2,800

1 in 486

Rodrigues means 'son of Rodrigo' in Portuguese, distinguishing the Hawaiian form from the Spanish Rodriguez spelling. Like Silva and Freitas, it arrived with Azorean plantation workers in the late nineteenth century and is concentrated on Maui.

#20

Davis welsh

2,700

1 in 504

Davis means 'son of David' and is of Welsh origin. It spread in Hawaii through American missionaries and merchants in the nineteenth century and grew further with the military presence on Oahu following the 1898 annexation.