Genealogy & Demographics Wyoming 2010 Census Top 20 Surnames

Most Common Last Names in Wyoming

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Wyoming

Top 20 Most Common Surnames - 2010 Census

Top 3 — Wyoming

#2 english
Johnson
Patronymic
4,331 people
1 in every 138 Wyoming residents

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious). Johnson ranks unusually high in Wyoming because it fits both English-language settlement and Scandinavian patronymic traditions common across the northern Plains.

#1 english
Smith
Occupational
4,706 people
1 in every 127 Wyoming residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker. Smith leads Wyoming because it traveled easily with English, Scottish, Irish, and American-born migrants who moved through trail, railroad, ranching, and mining communities.

#3 english
Miller
Occupational
3,323 people
1 in every 179 Wyoming residents

A grain mill worker, from Middle English 'miller'. Miller rose with farming and small-town settlement, and in Wyoming it also overlaps with German Mueller families whose name was often anglicized.

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Railroad Towns, Ranch Country, and Western Settlements

Wyoming's naming map was built along travel corridors: the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails crossed the state before the Union Pacific made southern Wyoming a chain of railroad and coal towns. English and Scots-Irish names such as Smith, Brown, Jones, Clark, Taylor, and Hill spread through ranching counties, while Johnson, Anderson, Nelson, Peterson, Hansen, Jensen, Christensen, and Larson reflect Scandinavian settlement across the northern Plains and the Intermountain West. Martinez entered the top 20 through the long Hispanic presence in the Rocky Mountain region and through agricultural, railroad, and energy work in towns tied to sugar beets, coal, oil, and gas.

Did you know? Wyoming has only about 11 people per unique surname in the Forebears dataset, which means uncommon family names can become visible statewide with just a few hundred bearers.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Wyoming

Showing all 20 surnames

#1
Smith english
4,706
1 in 127
From Old English 'smið', a metalworker. Smith leads Wyoming because it traveled easily with English, Scottish, Irish, and American-born migrants who moved through trail, railroad, ranching, and mining communities.
#2
Johnson english
4,331
1 in 138
Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious). Johnson ranks unusually high in Wyoming because it fits both English-language settlement and Scandinavian patronymic traditions common across the northern Plains.
#3
Miller english
3,323
1 in 179
A grain mill worker, from Middle English 'miller'. Miller rose with farming and small-town settlement, and in Wyoming it also overlaps with German Mueller families whose name was often anglicized.
#4
Anderson scottish
2,860
1 in 209
Son of Andrew, from Greek 'Andreas' (manly). Anderson is common in Wyoming because it came through both Scots-Irish migration and Scandinavian Andersson or Andersen families who settled across the West.
#5
Brown english
2,780
1 in 215
From Old English 'brún', a nickname for brown hair, brown clothing, or complexion. Brown spread widely with American-born settlers and became a durable ranch-country surname because it required no single ethnic channel.
#6
Jones welsh
2,228
1 in 268
From John, via the Welsh form 'Ioan'. Jones came west with families from older American settlement zones, and its presence in Wyoming mirrors the movement of English and Welsh names into mining, railroad, and livestock towns.
#7
Williams english
2,211
1 in 270
Son of William, from a Norman personal name meaning will plus helmet or protection. Williams ranks below Jones and Brown in Wyoming, a contrast with many Southern states where post-Civil War naming made it even more dominant.
#8
Davis welsh
2,032
1 in 293
Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid' (beloved). Davis is one of the Welsh-origin names that became broadly American before Wyoming statehood in 1890, then moved west with settlers and workers rather than one narrow immigrant group.
#9
Nelson english
1,747
1 in 341
Son of Nell or Neil, though in the American West it often also reflects Scandinavian Nelsen or Nielsen forms. Nelson's top-10 position is one of the clearest signs of northern European settlement in Wyoming.
#10
Clark english
1,671
1 in 357
From Latin 'clericus', a clerk, cleric, or literate official. Clark fits Wyoming's frontier paper trail because clerks, merchants, surveyors, and ranch families carried the name into county seats and railroad towns.
#11
Taylor english
1,669
1 in 357
From Old French 'tailleur', one who cuts cloth. Taylor spread through Wyoming as a common American surname, with no need for a large textile trade in the state itself.
#12
Thompson english
1,592
1 in 375
Son of Thom, a short form of Thomas. Thompson sits high in Wyoming because it overlaps English, Scottish, and Scandinavian naming patterns, including families whose original name was closer to Thomson or Thomsen.
#13
Martinez spanish
1,447
1 in 412
Son of Martín, from Latin 'Martinus', connected to Mars. Martinez is Wyoming's highest-ranking Spanish surname, tied to Hispanic families in the broader Rocky Mountain region and to work in agriculture, railroads, coal, and energy towns.
#14
Martin french
1,431
1 in 417
From Latin 'Martinus', of Mars. Martin in Wyoming can be English, French, Irish, or German in family history, which helps explain why it ranks just behind the Spanish patronymic Martinez.
#15
Peterson scandinavian
1,415
1 in 421
Son of Peter, from Greek 'Petros' (rock). Peterson is a signature Intermountain West surname, especially in communities influenced by Scandinavian converts to the LDS Church and northern Plains migration.
#16
Thomas english
1,219
1 in 489
From Aramaic 'Toma', meaning twin. Thomas came west as a fully national surname, carried by English, Welsh, and American-born families into Wyoming's county towns and ranch districts.
#17
Baker english
1,142
1 in 522
A bread baker, from Old English 'baecere'. Baker is one of the practical trade names in Wyoming's top 20, a reminder that common surnames often preserve medieval occupations rather than local frontier jobs.
#18
Allen english
1,120
1 in 532
From the personal name Alan, possibly Celtic in origin and often glossed as little rock or harmony. Allen arrived in Wyoming through many American migration routes, which makes it common without being tied to one county or ethnic settlement.
#19
Roberts english
1,082
1 in 551
Son of Robert, from a Germanic name meaning bright fame. Roberts is strongly Welsh and English in American use, matching the older Anglo-American stream that supplied many Wyoming ranching and town families.
#20
Hill english
1,077
1 in 554
A person who lived by or on a hill, from Old English 'hyll'. Hill is a landscape surname that reads naturally in Wyoming, but its meaning comes from medieval England rather than the state's mountains and basins.

Local Insight

Uniquely Wyoming

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

WyoHistory.org english

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

#1 Surname
Smith
People named #1
4,706
1 in every
127 residents
Top origin
English
State population
563,626
Census year
2010

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