Genealogy & Demographics Maryland 2026 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Maryland

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Maryland

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2026 Census

Top 3 — Maryland

#2 english
Johnson
Patronymic
82,506 people
1 in every 120 Maryland residents

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' through English and Scots usage. In Maryland it is especially strong in Baltimore, Prince George's County, and the older tidewater counties, where free Black and formerly enslaved families carried the name through 19th-century freedom records and after 1864 emancipation.

#1 english
Smith
Occupational
94,900 people
1 in every 105 Maryland residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker. Smith has been in Maryland since the colony's earliest records and grew even stronger in Baltimore's foundries, shipyards, and railroad shops.

#3 english
Brown
Descriptive
70,887 people
1 in every 140 Maryland residents

From Old English 'brún', originally describing brown hair, complexion, or clothing. Brown spread early through Maryland's Chesapeake plantation counties and remained common in Baltimore, which helps keep it unusually high in the statewide ranking.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Chesapeake Tobacco, Baltimore Docks, and Free Black Maryland

Maryland's surname map began with the 1634 founding of St. Mary's City and the spread of English family names through the tobacco counties of St. Mary's, Charles, Calvert, and Prince George's. Baltimore then added a second layer: passenger records started in 1833, and by the late 19th century the city's German-born population had reached 41,930, with Irish and German newcomers crowding the same port neighborhoods. Maryland's freedom records also matter because manumissions and certificates of freedom survive for counties including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Dorchester, and Talbot. When Maryland abolished slavery in its 1864 constitution, that older Chesapeake mix of English surnames was already deeply rooted in both Black and white communities.

Did you know? Tydings is one of the most Maryland-centered surnames in the country: Forebears places nearly 73 percent of all U.S. Tydings households in Maryland, a concentration rooted around Harford County and Havre de Grace.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Maryland

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Smith english
94,900
1 in 105
From Old English 'smið', a metalworker. Smith has been in Maryland since the colony's earliest records and grew even stronger in Baltimore's foundries, shipyards, and railroad shops.
#2
Johnson english
82,506
1 in 120
Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' through English and Scots usage. In Maryland it is especially strong in Baltimore, Prince George's County, and the older tidewater counties, where free Black and formerly enslaved families carried the name through 19th-century freedom records and after 1864 emancipation.
#3
Brown english
70,887
1 in 140
From Old English 'brún', originally describing brown hair, complexion, or clothing. Brown spread early through Maryland's Chesapeake plantation counties and remained common in Baltimore, which helps keep it unusually high in the statewide ranking.
#4
Jones welsh
69,375
1 in 143
The classic Welsh patronymic meaning son of John. Maryland's Eastern Shore and upper Chesapeake carried a strong Welsh and English surname layer, which helps explain why Jones ranks ahead of many immigrant surnames despite Baltimore's cosmopolitan history.
#5
Williams welsh
68,306
1 in 145
Son of William, from Germanic 'Willahelm'. Maryland's long plantation belt from Charles County to Dorchester County, together with the state's large free Black population before the Civil War, kept Williams near the top of the list.
#6
Davis welsh
45,804
1 in 217
Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dāwīḏ', beloved. Davis appears in Maryland records long before the Civil War and remained strong on the Eastern Shore and in southern Maryland, where the same counties often held both white and Black Davis families.
#7
Miller german
42,316
1 in 235
Occupational name for a miller, from German and English forms of the same trade. Frederick and Washington counties gave Maryland a strong inland Miller belt, and 19th-century German immigration through Baltimore reinforced it.
#8
Thomas welsh
36,067
1 in 276
From Aramaic 'T'oma', twin, used in Britain as both a given name and a patronymic surname. Thomas fits Maryland's older British surname stock and appears heavily in both Eastern Shore counties and Baltimore.
#9
Jackson english
35,599
1 in 279
Son of Jack, a medieval form of John. In Maryland, Jackson spread strongly through Black communities in Baltimore and Prince George's County after emancipation, though it was already present in tidewater county records.
#10
Taylor english
34,121
1 in 291
From Old French 'tailleur', one who cuts cloth. Baltimore's clothing trades and the commercial life of county seats across Maryland helped keep Taylor common in both city and countryside.
#11
Wilson english
32,099
1 in 310
Son of Will, a short form of William. The name entered Maryland from both the Chesapeake coast and the Pennsylvania backcountry, which helps explain its broad reach from western counties to the Baltimore area.
#12
Lee english
30,943
1 in 321
From Old English 'leah', a woodland clearing or meadow. Lee has deep roots in Maryland's English colonial settlement and today also reflects the continuity of plain English surnames in Baltimore and Prince George's County.
#13
Harris english
30,253
1 in 328
Son of Harry, a medieval form of Henry. Harris stayed strong in the tobacco counties of Charles and Prince George's and later in Baltimore's 19th-century working neighborhoods.
#14
Robinson english
28,119
1 in 353
Son of Robin, a medieval diminutive of Robert. Robinson rose with Maryland's urban population in Baltimore, but it also appears in Eastern Shore county records well before industrialization.
#15
White english
28,023
1 in 355
From Old English 'hwit', usually a nickname for fair hair or light complexion. White belongs to Maryland's oldest English surname layer, visible from St. Mary's and Annapolis records to later Baltimore directories.
#16
Thompson english
27,131
1 in 366
Son of Thom, with the inserted 'p' becoming standard in later English spelling. Thompson followed Scots-Irish and English migrants into western Maryland and the Baltimore-to-Frederick corridor, giving it wider reach than a purely tidewater surname.
#17
Moore english
26,897
1 in 369
From Old English 'mor', someone who lived by moorland or marshy ground. The surname fits Maryland's Chesapeake landscape well and appears across low-lying Eastern Shore communities as well as inland counties.
#18
Anderson scottish
24,662
1 in 403
Son of Anders or Andrew, from Greek 'Andreas'. In Maryland it reflects both Scots-Irish migration into the western counties and the wider Atlantic mix that passed through Baltimore.
#19
Lewis welsh
24,357
1 in 408
Used in Wales and England as a family name built from the given name Lewis and often linked with the anglicizing of Llywelyn. Maryland's western counties and its long border with Pennsylvania helped preserve Lewis as a durable British surname.
#20
Green english
22,499
1 in 442
From Middle English 'grene', someone who lived near a village green or grassy common. Green stayed high in Maryland because it works equally well in old rural counties and in Baltimore's long-established Black communities.

Local Insight

Uniquely Maryland

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

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Maryland english

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

Maryland State Archives english

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

#1 Surname
Smith
People named #1
94,900
1 in every
105 residents
Top origin
English
State population
5,773,552
Census year
2026

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