Surname Rarity Checker / How rare is Anderson
How Rare Is the Last Name Anderson?
Anderson is the 15th most common surname in the United States. About 784,404 Americans carry it, which works out to roughly 1 in 339 people, or 0.295% of the population. That is a common surname, though far from the top of the list. Here is the full picture from the Census surname file, plus a card you can save and share.
- Rarity
- 1 in 339
- Tier
- Common
- U.S. rank
- 15th
- Share of people
- 0.295%
- People named
- 784,404
- Source
- Census 2010
Based on the U.S. Census Bureau 2010 surname file, which counts 265,667,228 people across 162,253 surnames held by 100 or more people.
Where the surname Anderson comes from
Anderson means 'son of Andrew'. Scotland's patron saint is Andrew, which made the name unusually common there, and Scottish and Scandinavian emigration carried it heavily into the American Midwest.
Want to check a different last name? Try the surname rarity checker. Last names are only half the picture: the first-name rarity checker runs the same math on given names, and how common is my name combines the two.
Frequently asked questions
- How rare is the last name Anderson?
- Anderson is in the Common tier. About 1 in 339 Americans share it, which is 0.295% of the population, and it ranks 15th of all U.S. surnames. In total 784,404 people carried it in the 2010 Census.
- Is Anderson a rare last name?
- No. Anderson is a well-established surname rather than a rare one. It is in the Common tier, ranked 15th of all U.S. surnames, with about 1 in 339 Americans sharing it.
- How common is the surname Anderson?
- About 1 in 339 Americans carry the surname Anderson, which is 0.295% of the population and 15th of all U.S. surnames. That places it in the Common tier.
- How many people have the last name Anderson?
- 784,404 people in the United States, according to the Census Bureau's 2010 surname file, which counted 265,667,228 people across 162,253 surnames.
- Where does the surname Anderson come from?
- Anderson means 'son of Andrew'. Scotland's patron saint is Andrew, which made the name unusually common there, and Scottish and Scandinavian emigration carried it heavily into the American Midwest.