Genealogy & Demographics Missouri 2010 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Missouri

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Missouri

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2010 Census

Top 3 — Missouri

#2 english
Johnson
Patronymic
72,550 people
1 in every 140 Missouri residents

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious). Johnson is common across Missouri because it belongs to both the southern migrant stream that filled the uplands and the Black communities that grew in St. Louis, Kansas City, and the southeast after the Civil War.

#1 english
Smith
Occupational
95,001 people
1 in every 107 Missouri residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker or blacksmith. Smith became Missouri's top surname because it arrived early with settlers moving up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers after the Louisiana Purchase, then spread across both Ozark farm counties and the state's largest cities.

#3 welsh
Williams
Patronymic
71,768 people
1 in every 141 Missouri residents

Son of William, from the Norman personal name 'Willahelm', meaning resolute protector. In Missouri, Williams is especially strengthened by African American naming patterns that took shape in slavery and emancipation, then expanded further with migration into St. Louis and Kansas City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Ozark Uplands, German River Towns, and a Border State Mix

Upland counties in the south and center were settled heavily by families moving west from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia in the early 1800s, which helps explain the dominance of Smith, Johnson, Jones, Brown, and Davis. St. Louis began as a French town and became a major immigrant gateway, and between 1830 and 1840 more than 38,000 Germans settled the corridor from St. Louis to Hermann that later became known as the Missouri Rhineland. Missouri's border-state history also matters: slavery, the Dred Scott case in St. Louis, postwar Black communities, and later migration into St. Louis and Kansas City helped keep surnames such as Williams, Jackson, Harris, and Robinson high in the statewide ranking.

Did you know? Meyer ranks 32nd in Missouri and Mueller 75th, both far above their national standing. That pairing is a visible remnant of the nineteenth-century German immigration that reshaped St. Louis and the Missouri River towns.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Missouri

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Smith english
95,001
1 in 107
From Old English 'smið', a metalworker or blacksmith. Smith became Missouri's top surname because it arrived early with settlers moving up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers after the Louisiana Purchase, then spread across both Ozark farm counties and the state's largest cities.
#2
Johnson english
72,550
1 in 140
Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious). Johnson is common across Missouri because it belongs to both the southern migrant stream that filled the uplands and the Black communities that grew in St. Louis, Kansas City, and the southeast after the Civil War.
#3
Williams welsh
71,768
1 in 141
Son of William, from the Norman personal name 'Willahelm', meaning resolute protector. In Missouri, Williams is especially strengthened by African American naming patterns that took shape in slavery and emancipation, then expanded further with migration into St. Louis and Kansas City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
#4
Jones welsh
63,932
1 in 159
A Welsh patronymic meaning son of John. Jones moved into Missouri with families from Kentucky and Tennessee in the early nineteenth century, making it one of the surnames most closely tied to the state's Upper South settlement pattern.
#5
Brown english
61,065
1 in 166
From Old English 'brun', originally referring to hair color, complexion, or clothing. Brown is widespread in Missouri because it sits comfortably in every major stream of settlement, from early southern migrants to Black urban neighborhoods and older river towns.
#6
Davis welsh
50,085
1 in 202
Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid' (beloved). Davis was already well established in the southern states before Missouri statehood in 1821, and it spread quickly through central Missouri and the western frontier counties as migration pushed toward the Santa Fe corridor.
#7
Miller english
47,220
1 in 215
A miller, the operator of a grain mill. Miller is especially strong in Missouri because English Miller and German Muller often converged here, particularly in St. Louis and the Missouri Rhineland after the German immigration wave of the 1830s and 1840s.
#8
Wilson english
36,769
1 in 276
Son of Will, a short form of William. Wilson followed the same westward route as many other Upper South surnames, moving into the Ozarks and interior river counties with farm families from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.
#9
Moore english
35,235
1 in 288
From Old English 'mor', someone who lived near open moorland or rough ground. In Missouri the name came largely with southern migrants, but it also picked up Irish Moore lines in St. Louis, where immigration broadened the surname base beyond the uplands.
#10
Taylor english
31,915
1 in 318
From Old French 'tailleur', a cutter of cloth. Taylor appears across Missouri from the earliest years of American settlement, showing how durable English occupational surnames remained in a state built by both frontier farming and market towns.
#11
Jackson english
30,265
1 in 335
Son of Jack, a medieval form of John. Jackson carries both frontier and Black Missouri associations, and its visibility rose in a state where Andrew Jackson's era reshaped western settlement while Black Missourians also carried the name into the twentieth century.
#12
Harris english
29,565
1 in 343
Son of Harry, a medieval form of Henry. Harris ranks high in Missouri partly because it traveled well across the state's regional divides, appearing among early southern settlers and later in St. Louis and Kansas City Black communities.
#13
Thomas welsh
29,380
1 in 345
From the given name Thomas, from Aramaic 'toma', meaning twin. Thomas reflects the Welsh and border-English contribution to Missouri's early American population, especially in counties settled from Kentucky and the lower Ohio Valley.
#14
White english
28,758
1 in 353
From Old English 'hwit', describing someone with pale hair or complexion. White appears across old farming counties, river towns, and city neighborhoods, making it one of Missouri's most evenly distributed traditional English surnames.
#15
Anderson scottish
27,722
1 in 366
Son of Andrew or Anders, from Greek 'Andreas'. Anderson in Missouri reflects both Scots-Irish naming carried into the uplands and northern European immigrant lines that entered St. Louis during the nineteenth century.
#16
Thompson english
25,592
1 in 396
Son of Thom, a shortened form of Thomas. Thompson is another surname rooted in the state's early migration from the Upper South, and it remained strong because Missouri's rural settlement spread through kin networks rather than a single immigrant surge.
#17
Clark english
24,005
1 in 422
From Old English 'clerc', originally a cleric or literate record keeper. Clark was common in frontier Missouri by the time St. Louis became the launching point for the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, and the name stayed prominent as county governments and trading towns multiplied.
#18
Robinson english
23,182
1 in 437
Son of Robin, a medieval diminutive of Robert. Robinson is notably strong in Missouri because it appears in both old southern settler lines and Black communities shaped by emancipation, segregation, and twentieth-century migration into the state's industrial centers.
#19
Lewis welsh
22,537
1 in 450
Usually derived from the personal name Lewis, an English form associated with both Germanic Ludwig and Welsh Llywelyn traditions. In Missouri it traveled west with early American settlers and gained extra visibility in a state whose best known exploration story begins in St. Louis with Meriwether Lewis.
#20
Allen english
21,455
1 in 473
From the personal name Alan or Allen, probably of Celtic or Breton origin. Allen is one of the surnames that spread so widely with southern migration that it now reads as a general Missouri name rather than the marker of any single region.

Local Insight

Uniquely Missouri

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

Missouri State Archives: Timeline of Historic Missouri english

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

City of St. Louis: Peopling St. Louis english

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

#1 Surname
Smith
People named #1
95,001
1 in every
107 residents
Top origin
English
State population
5,988,927
Census year
2010

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