White Pages® News

White Pages® celebrates multicultural Australia with top surnames

January 25, 2012

Australia Day celebrations will be held around the country this Thursday involving Australians from many different cultural backgrounds.

To celebrate Australia’s rich cultural diversity, White Pages® has revealed the top 20 surnames in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, based on current 2012 surname listings data from White Pages® Online compared to White Pages® listing data from 2001.

“The data shows a list of surnames that originate from around the world including Asia, Europe and Britain. It also reveals trends over the past decade which reflect the influence of multi-culture in Australian society,” said Mr Peter Barclay, White Pages® Group Product Manager.

Key findings in the surname listing data show:

Singh is now the third most popular surname in Melbourne, but in 2001 it didn’t even feature in the top 20 names. Interestingly, the surname Singh does not feature in the top 20 lists in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, or Hobart.

Aside from Singh, the other surnames in Melbourne’s top five are Smith, Nguyen, Williams and Wilson. Chen (12), Wang (14) and Li (18) are surnames that were outside Melbourne’s top 20 in 2001, but have increased in popularity in the past 10 years.

In Sydney, Lee (2), Nguyen (3), Chen (4), Kim (5), Wang (9), Li (10) and Zhang (11) all feature in the top 20 surnames. Since 2001, Kim and Zhang have risen five places in the order of popular surnames, while Chen is ranked four places higher.

There’s been no change to the top three surnames in Sydney since 2001, which remain Smith, Lee and Nguyen. Similarly, the top five surnames in Brisbane retain a distinctive British feel – Smith, Jones, Brown, Williams and Wilson.

In Adelaide, Hill (17), Evans (18) and Anderson (20) have climbed into the top 20 list, while Taylor (7), Hall (13) White (16), Wright (17) and Martin (18) are surnames that weren’t in Hobart’s top 20 in 2001, but are among the most popular in 2012.

Nationally, Smith is the top ranked surname in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Hobart – just as it was in 2001. Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown, and Thomas are surnames that feature in every State’s top 20 list this year.