Genealogy & Demographics Louisiana 2026 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Louisiana

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Louisiana

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2026 Census

Top 3 — Louisiana

#2 english
Smith
Occupational
51,821 people
1 in every 94 Louisiana residents

From the Old English smitan, meaning to strike, Smith identified a metalworker or blacksmith. It is the most common surname in the United States overall. In Louisiana, it ranks second rather than first, displaced by Williams due to the state's demographic composition.

#1 welsh
Williams
Patronymic
54,506 people
1 in every 89 Louisiana residents

Derived from the given name William, itself from the Old Germanic Willahelm, meaning resolute protector. In Louisiana, Williams ranks first largely because of the state's substantial African American population, who adopted the surnames of English-speaking enslavers after emancipation. It is the third most common surname nationally but reaches its highest raw count in Louisiana relative to state population compared to most Southern states.

#3 english
Johnson
Patronymic
47,356 people
1 in every 103 Louisiana residents

Meaning son of John, with John derived from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning God is gracious. Johnson is the second most common surname nationally and ranks third in Louisiana. Its prevalence here reflects both Anglo-American settlement in northern Louisiana parishes and post-emancipation surname adoption by African American families statewide.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Acadian Exiles, Creole Settlers, and the Names They Left Behind

Louisiana's French surname concentration traces directly to the Grand Derangement of 1755, when British forces expelled Acadians from Nova Scotia. Thousands resettled along the Bayou Teche corridor and in parishes like Lafayette, St. Martin, and Vermilion through the 1760s and 1770s, carrying family names that had already been established in Canada for over a century. Those same surnames, Landry, Broussard, Hebert, LeBlanc, Guidry, and Fontenot, remained geographically concentrated in southern Louisiana because the Cajun community was largely self-contained for generations. African American families in the state adopted surnames from English-speaking enslavers, which explains why Williams, Johnson, and Jackson rank disproportionately high compared to neighboring states with smaller Black populations.

Did you know? Guidry is a Louisiana signature surname because it links directly to Acadian resettlement in the Vermilion and Lafayette parish area. The name derives from a Germanic personal name, Widric, filtered through Norman French, and arrived through the Acadian migration of the 1760s.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Louisiana

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Williams welsh
54,506
1 in 89
Derived from the given name William, itself from the Old Germanic Willahelm, meaning resolute protector. In Louisiana, Williams ranks first largely because of the state's substantial African American population, who adopted the surnames of English-speaking enslavers after emancipation. It is the third most common surname nationally but reaches its highest raw count in Louisiana relative to state population compared to most Southern states.
#2
Smith english
51,821
1 in 94
From the Old English smitan, meaning to strike, Smith identified a metalworker or blacksmith. It is the most common surname in the United States overall. In Louisiana, it ranks second rather than first, displaced by Williams due to the state's demographic composition.
#3
Johnson english
47,356
1 in 103
Meaning son of John, with John derived from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning God is gracious. Johnson is the second most common surname nationally and ranks third in Louisiana. Its prevalence here reflects both Anglo-American settlement in northern Louisiana parishes and post-emancipation surname adoption by African American families statewide.
#4
Jones welsh
35,409
1 in 138
A Welsh patronymic meaning son of John, derived from the given name Ioan. Jones is the fifth most common surname in the United States. In Louisiana, it appears across both the northern Protestant parishes settled by Anglo-Americans from the Carolinas and Georgia in the early 1800s and in urban New Orleans.
#5
Brown english
33,852
1 in 144
From the Old English brun, referring to brown hair, skin, or complexion. Brown is the fourth most common surname nationally. In Louisiana, it is distributed broadly across the state, with notable concentrations in the northern parishes that received English and Irish migration through the Mississippi and Red River valleys in the early nineteenth century.
#6
Davis welsh
27,532
1 in 177
A patronymic meaning son of David, with David from the Hebrew Dawid, meaning beloved. Davis ranks sixth nationally and sixth in Louisiana, reflecting the state's significant Welsh and English-descended population in the Florida Parishes and the northern uplands settled before statehood in 1812.
#7
Jackson english
25,552
1 in 191
Meaning son of Jack, a medieval diminutive of John. Jackson ranks sixteenth nationally but climbs to seventh in Louisiana, a gap explained by the state's large African American population, many of whom adopted the surname after emancipation. The name is especially common in parishes along the Mississippi River corridor.
#8
Thomas english
23,632
1 in 206
From the Aramaic personal name Toma, meaning twin, transmitted through Greek and Latin into English. Thomas ranks twelfth nationally but reaches eighth in Louisiana, again reflecting post-emancipation surname patterns among African American families in the state's river parishes and urban centers.
#9
Hebert french
21,391
1 in 228
Derived from the Old Germanic personal name Haribert, meaning army-bright, filtered through Norman French as Hebert. Over 41 percent of all Heberts in the United States live in Louisiana, concentrated in Lafayette, St. Mary, and Iberia parishes. The family arrived in Louisiana as part of the Acadian resettlement of the 1760s, having originally emigrated from the Poitou region of France to Nova Scotia in the 1630s.
#10
Miller english
20,747
1 in 235
From the Old English mylenweard or Middle English miller, denoting someone who operated a grain mill. Miller is the seventh most common surname in the United States. In Louisiana, it appears most frequently in the northern parishes and in the German Coast region along the Mississippi River, where German settlers who arrived in the 1720s sometimes anglicized the surname Mueller to Miller.
#11
Landry french
20,495
1 in 238
Derived from the Old Germanic personal name Landric, meaning land-ruler, adopted into French as Landry. Nearly 40 percent of all Landry bearers in the United States live in Louisiana. The Landry family was among the earliest Acadian settlers in Nova Scotia and resettled in the Attakapas and Opelousas districts of southern Louisiana after the 1755 expulsion, with the name now concentrated in St. Mary, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes.
#12
Broussard french
18,519
1 in 263
From the French broussard, referring to someone who lived near or in brushwood or scrubland. More than 52 percent of all Broussards in the United States live in Louisiana. The Broussard family, including the Acadian resistance leader Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, was central to the resettlement of the Attakapas district around present-day St. Martinville in the 1760s.
#13
Leblanc french
17,883
1 in 272
From the Old French le blanc, meaning the white one, referring to fair hair or complexion. Nearly 33 percent of all LeBlancs in the United States reside in Louisiana. The LeBlanc family was one of the founding Acadian clans in Nova Scotia and resettled heavily in the Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes of southern Louisiana following the deportation of 1755.
#14
Taylor english
16,957
1 in 287
From the Old French tailleur, meaning cutter, referring to a tailor or garment maker. Taylor is the eleventh most common surname in the United States. In Louisiana, it appears across the state but is more concentrated in the northern parishes that received Anglo-American settlers from the Upper South in the early 1800s.
#15
Martin french
16,892
1 in 288
Derived from the Latin Martinus, a diminutive of Mars, the Roman god of war, and popularized by Saint Martin of Tours. Martin is the seventeenth most common surname nationally. In Louisiana, it appears in both the French Creole south, where it entered through Acadian and French colonial settlement, and in the Anglo-American north.
#16
Wilson english
16,529
1 in 295
Meaning son of Will, a short form of William, from the Old Germanic Willahelm. Wilson ranks ninth nationally. In Louisiana, it is distributed primarily across the northern parishes settled by English-speaking migrants from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia during the territorial period before 1812.
#17
Lewis welsh
16,323
1 in 298
From the Welsh Llywelyn or the Norman French Louis, both ultimately derived from the Old Germanic Hludwig, meaning famous warrior. Lewis ranks twenty-fifth nationally but climbs to seventeenth in Louisiana. It is common among both African American families in the river parishes and Anglo-American families in the Florida Parishes.
#18
Harris english
16,088
1 in 303
A patronymic meaning son of Harry, a medieval English form of Henry, itself from the Old Germanic Heimrich, meaning home-ruler. Harris ranks twenty-first nationally. In Louisiana, it is found across the state with concentrations in East Baton Rouge and Orleans parishes.
#19
Guidry french
15,756
1 in 309
Derived from the Old Germanic personal name Widric, meaning wood-ruler, transmitted through Norman French as Guidry. Nearly 60 percent of all Guidrys in the United States live in Louisiana, making it one of the most geographically concentrated surnames in the country. The family settled in the Attakapas and Vermilion districts of southern Louisiana in the 1760s as part of the Acadian resettlement, and the name remains densest in Vermilion and Lafayette parishes today.
#20
White english
15,670
1 in 311
From the Old English hwit, referring to white or fair hair or complexion. White ranks eighteenth nationally. In Louisiana, it appears across the northern and central parishes with Anglo-American heritage, and in New Orleans, where it was also adopted by some free people of color in the antebellum period.

Local Insight

Uniquely Louisiana

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

Forebears Surname Distribution Database english

Ranked #0 in Louisiana and not reliably ranked nationally in this dataset.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press english

Ranked #0 in Louisiana and not reliably ranked nationally in this dataset.

#1 Surname
Williams
People named #1
54,506
1 in every
89 residents
Top origin
English
State population
4,533,372
Census year
2026

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