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How popular is your surname?

October 24, 2011

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You might not be lucky enough to call Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt your neighbours, but chances are you live right beside a Mr and Mrs Smith, as surname data from the White Pages® reveals.

Smith is Australia’s number one surname, according to data from the 2011-12 White Pages® books. In fact, the data shows the popular family name comes in as the number one surname in every single state and in many of our oldest suburbs.

It isn’t quite as good news for the Williamses out there, including celebrity chippie Tom Williams whose surname comes in third most popular, failing to keep up with the Joneses in second place – a fact sure to tickle Alan Jones pink.

Rounding out the top five surnames nationally are Brown and Wilson at number four and five respectively, proving it’s not just star power that make celebrity vet Dr Chris Brown and funny girl Rebel Wilson popular.

Australia’s top 20 surname list isn’t just a barometer of big family names, it also reflects Australia’s growing multiculturalism and migration patterns. While the top five most popular surnames have an English ancestry, three of the top 20 surnames in Australia are of Asian descent, with Lee taking out 12th place, Nguyen 14th place and Singh 17th place.

Looking at the data geographic, some areas of Australia show a higher prevalence of multicultural surnames.

New South Wales and Victoria are the most multicultural states according to White Pages® surname data, with seven multicultural surnames each in the top 20, including Chen, Kim, Li, Wang and Zhang.

The big question is just how popular are you? Check out this list of Australia’s top 20 surnames to find out where your family name places:

  1. Smith
  2. Jones
  3. Williams
  4. Brown
  5. Wilson
  6. Taylor
  7. Johnson
  8. Martin
  9. White
  10. Thompson
  11. Anderson
  12. Lee
  13. Thomas
  14. Nguyen
  15. Walker
  16. Ryan
  17. Singh
  18. Campbell
  19. Harris
  20. Robinson

 If you made the cut and have a top 20 surname, you are definitely among friends!