Genealogy & Demographics Indiana 2010 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Indiana

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Indiana

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2010 Census

Top 3 — Indiana

#2 english
Johnson
Patronymic
45,400 people
1 in every 143 Indiana residents

Means 'son of John,' rooted in the Hebrew Yohanan. In Indiana, Johnson spread widely with Scots-English settlers who followed the National Road westward from the Ohio border during the early 1800s.

#1 english
Smith
Occupational
59,600 people
1 in every 109 Indiana residents

Derived from Old English smið, denoting an ironworker or metalsmith. Smith leads Indiana surname lists statewide and was especially dense in the manufacturing corridor from Terre Haute through Indianapolis, where metalworking trades sustained large workforces through the early twentieth century.

#3 welsh
Williams
Patronymic
38,300 people
1 in every 169 Indiana residents

Means 'son of William,' from the Norman-French given name Guillaume. Williams became one of the most common surnames in Indiana's Black communities during the Great Migration, when tens of thousands relocated to Indianapolis and Gary between 1910 and 1940.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

German Settlers, Scots-Irish Pioneers, and the Great Migration

German Catholics established close communities in Dubois County by the 1840s, leaving occupational surnames like Schaefer and Betz unusually concentrated there. Scots-Irish families from Kentucky and Tennessee moved north along the National Road into the south-central counties. During the Great Migration, Black families from Mississippi and Alabama transformed Indianapolis's near-north side and crowded into Gary, where U.S. Steel's Gary Works drew workers by the thousands.

Did you know? Dubois County has one of the highest concentrations of German Catholic surnames outside Pennsylvania, a legacy of a mid-nineteenth-century Catholic mission settlement that drew families from Baden and Bavaria.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Indiana

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Smith english
59,600
1 in 109
Derived from Old English smið, denoting an ironworker or metalsmith. Smith leads Indiana surname lists statewide and was especially dense in the manufacturing corridor from Terre Haute through Indianapolis, where metalworking trades sustained large workforces through the early twentieth century.
#2
Johnson english
45,400
1 in 143
Means 'son of John,' rooted in the Hebrew Yohanan. In Indiana, Johnson spread widely with Scots-English settlers who followed the National Road westward from the Ohio border during the early 1800s.
#3
Williams welsh
38,300
1 in 169
Means 'son of William,' from the Norman-French given name Guillaume. Williams became one of the most common surnames in Indiana's Black communities during the Great Migration, when tens of thousands relocated to Indianapolis and Gary between 1910 and 1940.
#4
Jones welsh
35,700
1 in 182
A Welsh form of John, meaning 'God is gracious.' Jones arrived with early Quaker and Methodist settlers in east-central Indiana, with Richmond and Wayne County becoming notable concentrations by the mid-1800s.
#5
Brown english
35,000
1 in 185
An Old English nickname for someone with brown hair or complexion. Brown is distributed broadly across Indiana and ranks among the most common surnames in both Indianapolis and the rural counties of the south.
#6
Miller english
31,100
1 in 208
Derives from Old English mylenweard, an operator of a grain mill. Miller ranks higher in Indiana than its national standing suggests, reflecting both English mill operators along early river settlements and German immigrants named Müller who anglicized the spelling after settling in the southwestern counties.
#7
Davis welsh
27,200
1 in 238
A Welsh patronymic meaning 'son of David.' Davis arrived early with Scots-Welsh migrants from Virginia and the Carolinas who settled along the Ohio River valley and the southern Indiana counties in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
#8
Wilson english
21,400
1 in 303
Means 'son of Will,' a short form of William. Wilson is well represented in the farming communities of central and north-central Indiana, carried primarily by Scots-Irish settlers who entered the state from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
#9
Moore english
20,100
1 in 323
From Old English mōr, referring to someone living near open marshland or heath. Moore families settled broadly across Indiana's flat northern tier, where marshy prairies were drained for agriculture in the mid-nineteenth century.
#10
Taylor english
18,800
1 in 345
From Old French tailleur, meaning a cutter of cloth. Taylor spread through Indiana's early town centers — Vincennes, Madison, and Terre Haute — where artisan trades concentrated during the territorial and early statehood period.
#11
Anderson english
18,100
1 in 358
Means 'son of Andrew,' from the Greek Andreas. Anderson is especially visible in northern Indiana, where Scottish and Scandinavian immigrants joined the farming communities around Fort Wayne and South Bend in the late 1800s.
#12
Thomas welsh
16,900
1 in 383
From the Aramaic Toma, meaning twin. Thomas was carried into Indiana by Welsh-descended settlers and also figures prominently among Black families from Georgia and Alabama who arrived in Indianapolis during the first wave of the Great Migration.
#13
Martin french
15,600
1 in 416
Derived from Latin Martinus, linked to the Roman god of war. Martin reflects Indiana's French colonial past along the Wabash River, where Vincennes was founded by French fur traders and missionaries in the early 1700s.
#14
Jackson english
14,900
1 in 435
Means 'son of Jack,' a medieval nickname for John. Jackson is among the most frequent surnames in Indianapolis's historically Black neighborhoods on the near-east and near-north sides, reflecting families who arrived from Tennessee and Mississippi during the Great Migration.
#15
White english
14,900
1 in 435
An Old English nickname for someone with light hair or pale complexion. White is evenly distributed across Indiana and was borne by both early Quaker settlers in the Richmond area and by Black families who adopted the name after emancipation.
#16
Harris english
14,300
1 in 453
A contraction of 'Harry's son,' Harry being a medieval form of Henry. Harris is well represented in the southern counties of Indiana, carried by families from Virginia and Kentucky who crossed the Ohio River in the early 1800s.
#17
Thompson english
13,000
1 in 499
Means 'son of Tom,' a short form of Thomas. Thompson is a signature Scots-Irish name in Indiana, present in force along the settlement corridors that followed the Whitewater and White rivers into the state's interior.
#18
Garcia spanish
11,000
1 in 589
A Basque-origin surname possibly meaning 'young' or linked to a place name. Garcia is now among Indiana's fastest-growing surnames, concentrated in Indianapolis's Latino neighborhoods on the west side and in meatpacking communities around Logansport.
#19
Martinez spanish
10,400
1 in 624
Means 'son of Martín,' the Spanish form of Martin. Martinez grew sharply in Indiana from the 1990s onward as Mexican and Central American workers settled in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and agricultural towns across the northern counties.
#20
Robinson english
9,700
1 in 668
Means 'son of Robin,' a medieval pet form of Robert. Robinson is a common surname across Indiana's urban counties and figures prominently in the Black community of Gary, where steel-mill workers from the Deep South settled in large numbers from the 1910s through the 1950s.
#1 Surname
Smith
People named #1
59,600
1 in every
109 residents
Top origin
English
State population
6,483,802
Census year
2010

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