Surname Rarity Checker / How rare is Smith
How Rare Is the Last Name Smith?
Smith is the 1st most common surname in the United States. About 2,442,977 Americans carry it, which works out to roughly 1 in 109 people, or 0.920% of the population. That is one of the most common surnames in the country. Here is the full picture from the Census surname file, plus a card you can save and share.
- Rarity
- 1 in 109
- Tier
- Very Common
- U.S. rank
- 1st
- Share of people
- 0.920%
- People named
- 2,442,977
- 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 Smith comes from
Smith is an occupational name for a metalworker, from the Old English 'smitan', to strike. Every language with a blacksmith tradition produced its own version, which is why Schmidt, Herrero, Kovacs, and Ferrari are all the same name in different tongues.
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 Smith?
- Smith is in the Very Common tier. About 1 in 109 Americans share it, which is 0.920% of the population, and it ranks 1st of all U.S. surnames. In total 2,442,977 people carried it in the 2010 Census.
- Is Smith a rare last name?
- No. Smith is a well-established surname rather than a rare one. It is in the Very Common tier, ranked 1st of all U.S. surnames, with about 1 in 109 Americans sharing it.
- How common is the surname Smith?
- About 1 in 109 Americans carry the surname Smith, which is 0.920% of the population and 1st of all U.S. surnames. That places it in the Very Common tier.
- How many people have the last name Smith?
- 2,442,977 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 Smith come from?
- Smith is an occupational name for a metalworker, from the Old English 'smitan', to strike. Every language with a blacksmith tradition produced its own version, which is why Schmidt, Herrero, Kovacs, and Ferrari are all the same name in different tongues.