Most Common Last Names in Mississippi, With Origins

Top 3 — Mississippi

#2 english

Williams

Patronymic

35,818 people

1 in every 87 Mississippi residents

Means son of William, from Norman French and Germanic 'Willahelm', will plus helmet. Williams runs especially strong in Mississippi because the state had one of the nation's largest enslaved populations before 1865 and a vast Black rural population afterward. In Delta and central counties, it became one of the surnames most firmly rooted through emancipation, sharecropping, and church records.

#1 english

Smith

Occupational

49,547 people

1 in every 63 Mississippi residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker or blacksmith. Smith became Mississippi's top surname because it arrived early with Anglo-American migrants into the Natchez District and then spread across both white and Black communities during the cotton era. Its plain English form also made it a common legal surname after emancipation.

#3 english

Johnson

Patronymic

34,217 people

1 in every 92 Mississippi residents

Means son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan', God is gracious. Johnson was already common among settlers entering Mississippi after 1798 and later became widespread in Black communities that formalized family names after the Civil War. Its reach across race and region helps explain why it stays near the top statewide.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Cotton Mississippi and the French Coast

French colonists planted Mississippi's earliest European surname layer at Fort Maurepas near Ocean Springs in 1699 and Fort Rosalie at Natchez in 1716. After the Mississippi Territory was organized in 1798, migrants from Virginia and the Carolinas surged in, and the Choctaw land cessions of the 1820s and Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 opened millions of acres to white settlement. The Delta filled later than Natchez and the hill country, and after 1865 Freedmen's Bureau labor and marriage records helped fix surnames like Williams, Johnson, Jackson, and Harris across Black Mississippi.

Did you know? Dedeaux ranks only 624th statewide, yet Forebears attributes just over half of all U.S. Dedeaux households to Mississippi, showing how tightly the Hancock and Harrison coast preserved old French family lines.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Mississippi

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Smith english

49,547

1 in 63

Williams english

35,818

1 in 87

Johnson english

34,217

1 in 92

Jones welsh

33,467

1 in 94

A Welsh patronymic meaning son of John, built from 'Ioan' or 'Siôn'. Jones came south with British and Appalachian migrants and then gained a second Mississippi life among both freedpeople and the Mississippi Choctaw, for whom Jones became a notably common English surname. That dual history keeps the name unusually prominent from the hill counties to the Delta.

Brown english

28,135

1 in 111

From Old English 'brun', referring to brown hair, clothing, or complexion. Brown is one of the oldest descriptive surnames in English and spread easily in Mississippi because it belonged to no single ethnic enclave. It appears heavily in both plantation counties and upland counties, giving it a broad statewide footprint.

Davis welsh

25,564

1 in 123

Means son of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid', beloved, often transmitted through Welsh usage. Davis was part of the early southern migration into Mississippi's river counties and hill country in the early 1800s. The surname later remained common in farm communities tied to cotton, timber, and county-seat trade.

Moore english

16,995

1 in 184

From Old English 'mor', someone who lived by a moor or open rough ground. In Mississippi, Moore fits both older English naming habits and the geography of upland settlement in the east and north. The name is common enough to bridge the hill country, the capital region, and the Delta.

Jackson english

16,743

1 in 187

Means son of Jack, a medieval form of John. Jackson gained extra visibility in Mississippi because Andrew Jackson's era overlapped with the state's opening to white settlement and Indian removal, and because the capital itself bears the name. After emancipation, it also became a major African American surname across central and western Mississippi.

Harris english

15,674

1 in 200

Means son of Harry, a medieval form of Henry from Germanic roots meaning home ruler. Harris is widespread across Mississippi's Black Belt and Delta counties, where post-1865 legal naming and later sharecropping communities reinforced familiar English surnames. It also appears in older white settlement records from the territorial period.

#10

Taylor english

15,378

1 in 204

From Old French 'tailleur', a cutter of cloth or tailor. Taylor moved into Mississippi with the same southern migration streams that built county seats and market towns after 1798. Because it was a standard English trade surname rather than a local ethnic marker, it spread evenly across much of the state.

#11

Wilson english

14,250

1 in 220

Means son of Will, a short form of William. Wilson followed English and Scots-Irish families into Mississippi's interior during the early statehood years and remained strong in the pine belt and hill counties. Its broad southern distribution kept it prominent even as newer migration patterns changed other regions.

#12

White english

13,895

1 in 225

From Old English 'hwit', usually referring to fair hair or a light complexion. White is one of those simple English surnames that appears early in Mississippi records and stays durable because it crossed social and regional lines. It remains common in both older river counties and inland farming counties.

#13

Thomas welsh

13,451

1 in 233

From Aramaic 'Toma', twin, transmitted through the given name Thomas. Mississippi inherited Thomas from the British surname stock that moved in through Natchez and overland routes in the early nineteenth century. The name remained especially durable in church-centered rural communities where biblical given names often became surnames.

#14

Walker english

12,609

1 in 248

From Old English 'wealcere', a fuller who trod cloth to clean and thicken it. Walker is one of Mississippi's strongest occupational surnames and traveled with migrants from the older South into the hill country and pine woods. The name also stayed visible in Black communities tied to cotton and timber labor.

#15

Robinson english

12,476

1 in 251

Means son of Robin, a medieval diminutive of Robert. Robinson is especially characteristic of the lower Mississippi Valley because it spread through both British settlement and African American family naming after emancipation. In Mississippi, that combination made it more durable than many narrower regional surnames.

#16

Miller english

12,359

1 in 254

From Middle English 'miller', the operator of a grain mill. Mississippi never had the same German Miller story as some Midwestern states, so here the name mainly reflects older English and Scots-Irish settlement. Its staying power comes from how universal the occupation once was in rural county economies.

#17

Thompson english

12,193

1 in 257

Means son of Thom, a short form of Thomas, with the inserted 'p' added in later English spelling. Thompson moved into Mississippi with the same Anglo-American population surge that followed territorial organization and early statehood. It remained common in both the northern hill counties and the western plantation belt.

#18

Clark english

11,415

1 in 274

From Old English and Old French forms of clerk, originally a literate scribe or church official. Clark appears early in Mississippi because frontier communities needed clerks, merchants, and courthouse officials as new counties formed. The surname's administrative flavor fits a state that expanded rapidly after 1817.

#19

Anderson scottish

11,044

1 in 284

Means son of Anders or Andrew, from Greek 'Andreas', manly. Anderson reflects the Scots and Scots-Irish element in Mississippi's upland settlement, especially in the northeastern counties and pine belt. It stayed in the top twenty because those migration routes remained influential long after the frontier closed.

#20

Martin french

10,868

1 in 288

From Latin 'Martinus', associated with Mars and spread by Saint Martin. Martin has more than one Mississippi path: it belongs to the old British-American surname stock, but it also fits the state's French and Catholic Gulf Coast tradition. That mixed heritage helps the name appear statewide rather than in one narrow enclave.

Local Insight

Uniquely Mississippi

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

Dedeaux french

Ranked #624 in Mississippi versus #21081 nationally. That is 20457 spots higher here.

Dedeaux is a French Gulf Coast surname tied to old Catholic communities in Hancock and Harrison counties. Mississippi preserves more than half of all U.S. Dedeaux households, which is extraordinary for a relatively uncommon name. It survives because the coast stayed connected to French colonial and New Orleans networks long after the rest of the state became overwhelmingly Anglo-American.

Ladner other

Ranked #95 in Mississippi versus #5347 nationally. That is 5252 spots higher here.

Ladner is one of the clearest Mississippi Coast surnames. Local family histories trace the Gulf Coast line to Christian Ladner, on the coast by 1719, and the name still clusters around Bay St. Louis, Waveland, and nearby Hancock County communities. Mississippi accounts for about half of all U.S. Ladner households, giving the surname an unusually strong Mississippi Coast concentration.

Necaise french

Ranked #356 in Mississippi versus #19164 nationally. That is 18808 spots higher here.

Necaise is a French Catholic coast surname so localized that a Hancock County community is still called Necaise Crossing. The name belongs to the same Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian world that preserved French settlement patterns, Catholic parishes, and intermarried coastal families. Nearly three quarters of U.S. Necaise households are in Mississippi.

Bosarge french

Ranked #925 in Mississippi versus #18652 nationally. That is 17727 spots higher here.

Bosarge is another Gulf surname that makes little sense unless you know the Mississippi and Mobile coast. On the Mississippi side it is rooted in seafood, boatbuilding, and Catholic coastal communities in Jackson, Harrison, and neighboring counties. Mississippi alone holds nearly a third of all U.S. Bosarge households.

LeFlore french

Ranked #972 in Mississippi versus #12484 nationally. That is 11512 spots higher here.

LeFlore points to a specifically Mississippi story because the name is inseparable from Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore and from Leflore County in the Delta, which was named for him. The surname links French fur-trade ancestry to Choctaw political history and the upheaval of removal in the 1820s and 1830s. That mix gives LeFlore a meaning in Mississippi that it does not carry in most other states.

Etymology

Mississippi Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Five of Mississippi's top 20 surnames are occupational: Smith, Taylor, Walker, Miller, and Clark. That is a strong showing, but the group is still outranked by patronymics because Mississippi's surname history comes more from Anglo-American settlement and post-emancipation naming than from later immigrant trades. Smith's first-place finish gives the whole category unusual weight.

Smith (metalworker) Taylor (tailor) Clark (clerk)

Patronymic Names

Patronymics dominate Mississippi's top 20, accounting for 11 names including Williams, Johnson, Jones, Davis, Jackson, Harris, Wilson, Thomas, Robinson, Thompson, and Anderson. That heavy share reflects the British surname stock that entered after 1798 and the continuity of the same familiar names in Black communities after 1865. A small set of recurring given names generated much of the state's surname list.

Williams (son of William) Johnson (son of John) Jackson (son of Jack) Anderson (son of Anders)

Descriptive or Place-Based Names

Brown and White represent descriptive surnames, while Moore carries a place-based landscape meaning. This category is smaller than the patronymic tier, but it helps explain why Mississippi's list still looks plain-English even after French coastal settlement and Choctaw history are taken into account. The most distinctive state signatures, such as Dedeaux and Necaise, sit outside the top 20 rather than changing its core pattern.

Brown (brown hair or complexion) White (fair hair or complexion) Moore (near a moor)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Mississippi?

The most common last names in Mississippi are Smith, Williams, Johnson, Jones, and Brown. In this dataset, Smith ranks first statewide, followed by Williams and Johnson. The order reflects both older Anglo-American settlement and the long legacy of emancipation-era surname formation in a heavily rural cotton state.

Why are Williams and Johnson so common in Mississippi?

Williams and Johnson are especially common in Mississippi because both became deeply rooted in Black communities after emancipation in 1865 while already existing in the state's British-American surname pool. Mississippi's large enslaved population, followed by decades of sharecropping in the Delta and Black Belt, helped keep those names near the top. Freedmen's Bureau marriage and labor records from Mississippi show exactly the period when many such surnames became fixed in law and family use.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Mississippi — Primary source for Mississippi state surname counts, ratios, state ranks, and national-rank comparisons
Mississippi Department of Archives and History — State history resources on territorial settlement, French colonial Mississippi, and Freedmen's Bureau records
Mississippi Encyclopedia — Reference articles on cotton, Hancock County, French settlement, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Greenwood LeFlore

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Smith
People named #1: 49,547
1 in every: 63 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 2,967,297
Census year: 2026

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Most Common Last Names in Mississippi

Cotton Mississippi and the French Coast

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Mississippi

Uniquely Mississippi