Surnames are unique and there are thousands of them all over the world. In different countries, some names are more common than others. In the past, surnames were often given depending on one's occupation. For example, a blacksmith's surname would most likely be 'Smith,' and a baker's surname would probably be 'Baker'. This is a listing of the most common surnames (alphabetical by country names):

Asia

China

According to the survey conducted by Chinese Academy of Sciences released in January 2006, the top twenty surnames in China are listed as follows:

1. (?) Li
2. (?) Wáng
3. (?) Zh?ng
4. (?) Liú
5. (?) Chén
6. (?) Yáng
7. (?) Huáng
8. (?) Zhŕo
9. (?) Zh?u
10. (?) Wú
11. (?) Xú
12. (?) S?n
13. (?) Zh?
14. (?) M?
15. (?) Hú
16. (?) Gu?
17. (?) Lín
18. (?) Hé
19. (?) G?o
20. (?) Liáng

Israel

This is a list of the most common Jewish surnames in Israel:

Source: http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem271to300.html, quoting from Yediot Achronot, February 23, 2004.

Japan

Based on the Japanese surname Dictionary (???????) issued in July 1996, there are 291,129 different surnames in Japan. If surnames pronounced or romanized the same but written with different Chinese characters count as different surnames, there are believed to be approximately 300,000 surnames in Japan. The top 10 surnames cover approximately 10% of the population and the top ranked 7,000 surnames cover slightly more than approx. 96%.(Source:Top 7,000 Surnames of Japan)

This ranking is based on the average number of the entries in all Japanese Yellow Pages for the past three years.

Source: Nationwide Top 10,000 Surnames by

Korea

Korean surnames have a variety of ways of being romanized.

1. ? (?; Kim, Gim)
2. ? (?; Lee, Yi, I)
3. ? (?; Park, Pak, Bak)
4. ? (?; Choi, Choe)
5. ? (?; Jeong, Chung)
6. ? (?; Kang, Gang)
7. ? (?; Cho, Jo, Joe)
8. ? (?; Yoon, Youn, Yun)
9. ? (?; Jang, Chang)
10. ? (?; Shin, Sin)
11. ? (?; Han)
12. ? (?; Seo,Suh)
13. ? (?; Kwon)
14. ? (?; Son, Sohn)
15. ? (?; Hwang, Whang)
16. ? (?; Song,Soung)
17. ? (?; Ahn, An)
18. ? (?; Lim, Rim, Im)
19. ? (?; Yoo, Yu)
20. ? (?; Hong)
21. ? (?; Jeon, Jun)

Source: National Statistical Office, Republic of Korea.

Philippines

Common surnames

1. Santos
2. Reyes
3. Cruz
4. Bautista
5. Ocampo
6. Garcia
7. Mendoza
8. Torres
9. Castillo
10. Flores
11. Villanueva
12. Ramos
13. Castro
14. Rivera
15. Aquino
16. Navarro
17. Salazar
18. Mercado
19. Concepcion
20. Santiago

Prefix DE'

1. Dela Cruz
2. Delos Reyes
3. Del Rosario
4. Delos Santos
5. De Guzman
6. De Castro
7. Dela Vega
8. Dela Rosa
9. De Asis
10. De Rosales

Suffix 'EZ

1. González
2. López
3. Hernández
4. Pérez
5. Fernández
6. Ramirez
7. Dominguez
8. Enriquez
9. Alvarez
10. Sánchez

The majority of Filipinos use Spanish surnames like other former Spanish colonies. However, many Filipinos still use their native surnames such as Kalaw, Macaraeg, Gatdula and many others. Filipino Chinese often use their Chinese family names. Some other Filipino mestizos (mixed-ancestry) bear the foreign names of their bloodline.

Source: National Statistics Office.

Singapore

Popular Chinese surnames - based on a paper published by Statistics Singapore, 2000:

1. Tan ? (?)
2. Lim ?
3. Lee ?
4. Ng ?
5. Ong ?
6. Wong ?
7. Goh ?
8. Chua ?
9. Chan ? (?)
10. Koh ? (?)
11. Teo ? (?)
12. Ang ?
13. Yeo ? (?)
14. Tay ? (?)
15. Ho ?
16. Low ? (?)
17. Toh ?
18. Sim ?
19. Chong ? (?)
20. Chia ?(?)

Taiwan

Popular Taiwanese surnames - based on Ministry of the Interior also see Common Chinese Names http://technology.chtsai.org/namefreq/

1. Chen ? (11.06%)
2. Lin ? (8.28%)
3. Huang, Hwang ? (6.01%)
4. Zhang ? (5.26%)
5. Lee ? (5.11%)
6. Wang ? (4.12%)
7. Wu ? (4.04%)
8. Liu, Liou, Lu, Lew ? (3.17%)
9. Tsai, Chai, Tsay, Sai ? (2.91%)
10. Yang ? (2.66%)

Vietnam

The top 10 surnames cover more than 80% of population.

Source: H? Vŕ Tęn Ng??i Vi?t Nam ("Vietnamese Family and Personal Names"), compiled by Professor Le Trung Hoa, Social Sciences Publishing House (2005) http://www.minhkhai.com.vn/sachsach.html?ms=37830&PHPSESSID=4e28f3c74b5b621acc82837a9ba3fb7e.

India

Common North and Central India surnames

(Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc.)

1. Sharma (whole of North India.; primarily UP)
2. Verma (primarily Bihar or UP)
3. Gupta
4. Agrawal/Agarwal/Aggarwal (Rajasthan, UP, MP)
5. Malhotra
6. Bhatnagar (UP/Bihar)
7. Saxena (UP/Bihar)
8. Kapoor/Kapur (Punjabi)
9. Singh (entire North India)
10. Mehra (Punjab)
11. Chopra (Punjab)
12. Nayyar (Punjab)
13. Sarin
14. Kaul (Kashmir)
15. Watal (Kashmir)
16. Malik
17. Yadav (UP/Bihar)
18. Jhadav
19. Jaiteley
20. Chauhan (Rajasthan, MP)
21. Mistry
22. Mishra
23. Khan (implies Pathan origin)
24. Rawat

Common Eastern India surnames

(Mostly Bengal but also Orissa, Assam, etc.)

1. Chatterjee/Chattopadhayay/Chatterji
2. Mitra
3. Sen
4. De
5. Bose
6. Sengupta
7. Das
8. Dasgupta
9. Banerjee/Bandopadhyay
10. Mukopadhyay/Mukherji
11. Dutta
12. Patra/Mahapatra (Orissa)
13. Pattnaik
14. Mohanty
15. Ojha
16. Sarma/Sarmah ( Regional variations of Sharma )

Common North-(far)Eastern India surnames

(Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachalpradesh, Sikkim)

1. Bhutia (Sikkim)
2. Thapa (Nepal/Sikkim)
3. Lyndem (Meghalaya)

Common Southern India surnames

(Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, etc.)

Top ten

1. Nair (Kerala)
2. Pillai
3. Rao (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra)
4. Jayaraman
5. Venkatesan
6. Balasubramanium
7. Subramanium
8. Rangan
9. Uthappa (Coorg)
10. Rangarajan

Others

1. Abbineni
2. Abburu/Abburi
3. Achanta
4. Adusumalli (adusumilli)
5. Alapati
6. Alluru, Alluri
7. Arekatla
8. Aremanda
9. Atluru (Atluri)
10. Attota (Athota)
11. Balaneni
12. Balusu
13. Bandarupalli
14. Bandi
15. Bandlamudi
16. Bathina
17. Bejawada
18. Bellamkonda
19. Bikkasani
20. Bodapati
21. Bodduluru/Bodduluri
22. Bodi
23. Bondalapati
24. Boppudi
25. Boyapati
26. Chadalavada
27. Challa
28. Challapalli
29. Chamallamudi
30. Chandra
31. Chapalamadugu
32. Chebrolu
33. Chekuru/Chekurui
34. Chennupati
35. Cherukuru
36. Chigurupati
37. Chilakapati
38. Chilukuri
39. Chilukuru
40. Chintala
41. Chirumamilla
42. Chitturu (Chitturi)
43. Chukkapalli
44. Chundi
45. Daggubadu (Daggubati)
46. Daggumilli
47. Damacherla
48. Dammalapati
49. Dandamudi
50. Davuluru (Davuluri)
51. Dhulipalla
52. Donepudi
53. Doppalapudi
54. Duggirala
55. Edara
56. Edupuganti (Edpuganti)
57. Gaddam
58. Gaddipati
59. Gali
60. Gangineni
61. Ganne
62. Garapati
63. Garikapati
64. Godavarthi
65. Gogineni
66. Goli
67. Golla
68. Gorantla
69. Gorrepati
70. Gottimukkala
71. Gottipati
72. Govada
73. Gudapati
74. Gudavalli
75. Gullapalli
76. Guntupalli
77. Guthikonda
78. Inaganti
79. Inampudi
80. Inavolu/Inolu
81. Inturi
82. Jagarlamudi
83. Jampala
84. Jampani
85. Jasti
86. Jetti
87. Jonnalagadda
88. Kadiyala
89. Kakani
90. Kakarla
91. Kakarla
92. Kakollu
93. Kakumanu
94. Kalagara
95. Kalluru
96. kambampati
97. Kamepalli
98. Kamineni
99. Kanagala
100. Kankanala
101. Kantheti
102. Kantheti
103. Kanuri
104. Karanam
105. Karumanchi
106. Kasaraneni
107. Katragadda
108. Katuru, Katuri
109. Kavuru
110. Kaza (Kaja)
111. Kodali
112. Koganti
113. Kolakaluru
114. Kolli
115. Kollipara
116. Komaraneni
117. Kommi
118. Konanki
119. Kondamaneni
120. Kondapalli
121. Kondaveeti
122. Kondragunta, Kondrakunta
123. Koneru
124. Kongara
125. Korrapati
126. Kotapati
127. Kotha
128. Kothapalli
129. Kovelamudi
130. Kuchipudi
131. Kudaravalli
132. Kunamaneni
133. Kuntamukkala
134. Kurapati
135. Kurra
136. Lagadapati
137. Lekkala
138. Lingamaneni
139. Madala
140. Maddineni
141. Maddipati
142. Maddipatla
143. Maddukuru
144. Madineni
145. Maganti
146. Makkena
147. Malempati
148. Malineni
149. Malladi
150. Mallavaram
151. Mallela
152. Mandava
153. Manikonda
154. Mannam
155. Mannava
156. Marella
157. Medikonda
158. Meka
159. Mikkilineni
160. Moparru (Moparthi)
161. Moturu
162. Movva
163. Mukkamala
164. Mulpuri (Mulpuru)
165. Munagala
166. Mundlapudi (Mullapudi)
167. Muppalla
168. Muppavarapu
169. Murthineni
170. Musunuri
171. Mynampati
172. Myneni
173. Nadendla, Nadella
174. Nagandla, Nagalla
175. Nallamothu
176. Nallamothu
177. Nallapati
178. Nalluru (Nalluri)
179. Namburu
180. Nandamuru
181. Nandigam
182. Nara
183. Narla
184. Narne
185. Narra
186. Narra
187. Neerukonda
188. Nennuri, Nannuri
189. Nimmagadda
190. Nuthakki
191. Nuthalapati
192. Nuthalapati
193. Pachava (Patchava)
194. Pakalapati
195. Paladugu
196. Pamidi
197. Pamulapati
198. Papineni
199. Parimi
200. Paritala
201. Paruchuri (Parchuru)
202. Pathuru (Pathuri)
203. Patibandla
204. Pattipati, Prattipati
205. Peddieneni, Peddi
206. Pendyala
207. Peravali
208. Polavarapu
209. Ponugupati
210. Pothakamuru
211. Potluri (Potluru)
212. Pulipati
213. Punukollu
214. Puttagunta
215. uvvada
216. Rallapalli
217. Ravella, Ravela
218. Ravi
219. Rayapati (Ravipati)
220. Recherla
221. Sadineni
222. Sakhamuri
223. Sakkurthi
224. Sompalli (Somepalli)
225. Swarna
226. Tadikonda
227. Thakkellapati
228. Thotakura
229. Thottempudi
230. Tiruveedhula
231. Undavalli
232. Unnam
233. Uppalapati
234. Vadde
235. Vaddineni (Vardhineni)
236. Vadlamudi
237. Vakkalanka
238. Valluru (valluri)
239. Vankayalapati
240. Vasantha
241. Veeramanchineni
242. Veerapaneni
243. Vegella
244. Velagapudi
245. Vellanki (Yellanki)
246. Vemula
247. Vemulapalli
248. Vemuri
249. Venigalla
250. Vipparla
251. Yadlapati
252. Yalamanchili
253. Yalavarthi (Yelavarthi)
254. Yanamadala
255. Yarlagadda
256. Yeleti
257. Yellanki (Vellanki)

• Some South Indians may use their grandparent's or parent's name as surname.

Common Western India surnames

(Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc)

1. Shah (Gujarat)
2. Mehta (Punjab/Gujarat)
3. Patel (Gujarat)
4. Patil (Maharashtra)
5. Pawar/Powar
6. Gavde
7. Kadam
8. Tambe
9. Chavan
10. D'souza, Lobo, Rodrigues, D'Costa (Goan surnames- former Portuguese colonies in India)
11. Jessia, Tata (Parsi surnames. Usually found in Bombay/Gujarat)

Source: http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061208222415AAsxQ59.

Central America

Costa Rica

Source: "Conozca los nombres más curiosos del país," Periódico Al Día.

Eurasia (transcontinental)

Russia

The 20 most common Russian surnames (from the European part of Russia, as calculated by Balanovska et al., 2006, http://genofond.ru/about.asp?site_id=1582&part_id=2237&module_id=2335):

1. ??????? (Smirnov, 1.61%) - "quiet man's"
2. ?????? (Ivanov, 1.30%) - "John's"
3. ???????? (Kuznetsov, 0.90%) - "smith's"
4. ????? (Popov, 0.79%) - "priest's"
5. ??????? (Sokolov, 0.73%) - "falcon's"
6. ??????? (Lebedev, 0,65%) - "swan's"
7. ?????? (Kozlov, 0,58%) - "he-goat's"
8. ??????? (Novikov, 0,54%) - "novik's" (novik - a teenager on military service who comes from a noble, boyar, or cossack family in Russia of 16th-18th centuries).
9. ??????? (Morozov, 0.53%) - "frost's"
10. ?????? (Petrov, 0.44%) - "Peter's"
11. ?????? (Volkov, 0.44%) - "wolf's"
12. ???????? (Solovyov, 0.44%) - "nightingale's"
13. ???????? (Vasilyev, 0.42%) - "Basil's"
14. ?????? (Zaytsev, 0.41%) - "hare's"
15. ?????? (Pavlov, 0.39%) - "Paul's"
16. ??????? (Semyonov, 0,35%) - "Simeon's"
17. ??????? (Golubev, 0,32%) - "pigeon's"
18. ?????????? (Vinogradov, 0.32%) - "grape's"
19. ???????? (Bogdanov, 0.31%) - "Bogdan's" (Bogdan - a Ukrainian given name)
20. ???????? (Vorobyov, 0.30%) - "sparrow's"

Russian surnames may originally denote "son of" or "serf of". Women's surnames have an "-a" feminine ending. Thus, for example, "Ivanova" means "belonging to John" or "John's daughter".

The Russian equivalent of "Smith, Jones, and Brown" (that is, the generic most popular surnames) is ??????, ??????, ???????, or "Johnson, Peterson, and Sidorson". The last of these, Sidorov - "of Sidor" is actually not a very common surname at all, while Sidor as a given name is virtually unknown. According to latest studies (2006), the most common Russian surnames are actually Smirnov, Ivanov and Kuznetsov.

Turkey

1. Y?lmaz (means "dauntless")
2. Kaya (means "rock")
3. Demir (means "iron")
4. ?ahin (means "falcon")
5. Çelik (means "steel")
6. [name]o?lu (son of [name])

Source: Turkish Directorate-General of Population and Citizenships: http://www.nvi.gov.tr/11,Ana_Sayfa_Isim_Istatistikleri_Sun.html & http://www.nvi.gov.tr/content/attached/nvi/istatistikler/encokkullanilan5soyad.pdf

Europe

Austria

The forty most common surnames in Austria as published in 2006 are shown below beside the approximate percentage of the Austrian population sharing each surname.^[1]

Belgium

Belgium is a European nation composed of three main regions: Flemish (Flanders), Walloon (Wallonia), and Brussels (nestled in south Flanders, near the Wallonian border). The Flemish region has a Dutch language tradition, while the Walloon region has a French language tradition. These different linguistic histories are reflected in differing commonalities of surnames, as shown in the table below.^[2]

Czech Republic

Source: Ministry of Interior (as of 2002).

Feminized names included (m. Novák - f. Nováková).

Denmark

Most popular Danish family names (as of 2004) http://www.dst.dk/Statistik/Navne/pop/2004.aspx:

1. Jensen 303,089
2. Nielsen 296,850
3. Hansen 248,968
4. Pedersen 186,913
5. Andersen 172,894
6. Christensen 133,033
7. Larsen 129,662
8. Sřrensen 124,175
9. Rasmussen 104,130
10. Jřrgensen 98,354
11. Petersen 92,189
12. Madsen 70,176
13. Kristensen 65,074
14. Olsen 54,044
15. Thomsen 40,514
16. Christiansen 40,224
17. Poulsen 34,203
18. Johansen 33,120
19. Knudsen 31,977
20. Mortensen 31,252

The most popular Danish family names all end with "sen", meaning "son". That means, that for example "Jensen" is "son of Jens", "Poulsen" is "son of Poul". An example: if Hans Petersen's father was Peter Sřrensen, Hans' father's name was Peter, and his grandfather's Sřren. His son would then be (first name) Hansen. This method of naming children was widely used up to the middle of the 19th century. Sometimes it was also common to give to girls names such as "Jensdatter" or "Poulsdatter", meaning daughter of Jens, or daughter of Poul. These names are now seldom seen in Denmark, but still widely known and used in Iceland (where the ending is -dóttir).

Nowadays, the "sen" names have lost their meanings, because women bear them too.

Estonia

Many common Estonian surnames relate to nature and the natural environment:

1. Tamm (5,180) - Oak/dam
2. Saar (4,306) - Ash (tree)/island
3. Mägi (3,565) - Mountain/hill
4. Sepp (3,550) - Smith
5. Kask - Birch
6. Kukk - Rooster
7. Rebane - Fox
8. Ilves - Lynx
9. Pärn - Linden
10. Koppel - Paddock
11. Luik - Swan
12. Oja - Brook
13. Kaasik - Birch grove
14. Lepik - Alder grove
15. Raudsepp - Blacksmith
16. Kuusk - Spruce/fir
17. Karu - Bear
18. Kütt - Hunter
19. Pőder - Moose
20. Vaher- Maple

Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs Estonia, press release "Tamm, Saar, Mägi and Sepp are the most common family names in Estonia" 09.02.2005 http://www.sisemin.gov.ee/atp/?id=13440, February 1, 2005.

Finland

1. Virtanen - 24,204 (0.461%)
2. Korhonen - 23,721 (0.452%)
3. Nieminen - 21,841 (0.416%)
4. Mäkinen - 21,699 (0.414%)
5. Mäkelä - 19,674 (0.375%)
6. Hämäläinen - 19,518 (0.372%)
7. Laine - 18,908 (0.360%)
8. Koskinen - 18,058 (0.344%)
9. Heikkinen - 17,939 (0.342%)
10. Järvinen - 17,381 (0.331%)

Most of the names on this list are typical examples of surnames that were adopted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time before which many Finns had no surname in today's sense. In the romantic spirit, they refer to natural features ? virta "river", koski "rapids", mäki "hill" ? often with the suffix -nen added after the model of older, mainly eastern Finnish surnames such as Korhonen and Heikkinen. "Hämäläinen" literally means an inhabitant of Häme. Heikki is a Finnish form of the man's name Henry.

Source: Population Register Centre, 20 June 2005. Percentages are based on the population of Finland on 21 June 2005.

France

1. Martin - 235,846 (0.393%) - From Saint Martin, patron saint of France (from Martius, Latin for warrior)
2. Bernard - 105,132 (0.175%) - From Saint Bernard, from Germanic for bold as a bear
3. Dubois - 95,998 (0.159%) - "From the wood"
4. Thomas - 95,387 (0.158%) - From Saint Thomas (Jesus' Disciple), from Aramaic for twin
5. Robert - 91,393 (0.152%) - From Germanic for bright fame
6. Richard - 90,689 (0.151§) - "Rich/powerful"
7. Petit - 88,318 (0.147%) - "Small" (size)
8. Durand - 84,252 (0.140%) - From Durandus (Latin for strong, lasting)
9. Leroy - 78,868 (0.131%) - "The King/The winner"
10. Moreau - 78,177 (0.130) - Dark complexion (like Maures)
11. Simon - 76,655 (0.127%) - From Saint Simon, from Hebrew for God heard
12. Laurent - 75,307 (0.125%) - From Saint Laurent, from Latin laurens, Laurel-crowned
13. Lefebvre - 74,564 (0.124%) - "The smith"
14. Michel - 74,318 (0.123%) - From Saint Michel, from Hebrew for Who is like God
15. Garcia - 68,720 (0.114%) - Spanish surname
16. David - 61,762 (0.103%) - From King David, from Hebrew for Beloved
17. Bertrand - 59,817 (0.100%) From Germanic for bright and vigorous
18. Roux - 59,440 (0.099%) - "Red-haired"
19. Vincent - 57,351 (0.096%) - From Saint Vincent, from Latin vicens, winner
20. Fournier - 57,047 (0.095%) - "Baker"
21. Morel - 56,760 (0.095%) - Dark complexion (like Maures)
22. Girard - 55,642 (0.093%) - From Germanic for bold as a spear
23. André - 55,228 (0.092%) - From Saint André, from Greek for manly
24. Lefčvre - 53670 (0.089%) - "The smith"
25. Mercier - 53622 (0.089%) - "Trader/Shopkeeper"

Source: http://nom-de-famille.linternaute.com/ (2004)

Georgia

Source: 2007 http://www.day.az/news/georgia/82620.html.

Germany

Data from 1995.

1. Müller (0.95%) (Miller)
2. Schmidt (0.69%) (Smith, blacksmith)
3. Schneider (0.40%) (Tailor)
4. Fischer (0.35%) (Fisher)
5. Meyer (0.33%) (from Latin "major", the bigger one, referring to the name-giver's status, means "official" (mayor, police officer, sheriff, etc), "peasant", or from the Jewish surname Meir; also: Meier, 0.15%; Maier, 0.13%; Mayer, 0.13%)
6. Weber (0.30%) (Weaver)
7. Schulz (0.27%) (regionally for mayor)
8. Wagner (0.27%) (Wainwright, Wright; builder of wagons and carriages)
9. Becker (0.27%) (Baker)
10. Hoffmann (0.26%) (owning a farm)
11. Schäfer (Shephard)
12. Koch (Cook)
13. Bauer (Farmer)
14. Richter (Judge)
15. Klein (small)
16. Schröder (Taylor)
17. Wolf
18. Neumann (Newman)
19. Schwarz (Black)
20. Zimmermann (Carpenter)
21. Krüger (Innkeeper)
22. Braun (Brown)
23. Hofmann (Farmer)
24. Schmitz (Smith)
25. Hartmann (Strongman or Woodman)
26. Lange (Long)
27. Schmitt (Smith)
28. Werner (strong warrior)
29. Krause (Curly)
30. Meier (Major)
31. Schmid (Smith)
32. Lehmann (Vassal)
33. Schultze (Judge)
34. Maier (Major)
35. Köhler (Collier)
36. Herrmann (Warrior)
37. Walter (Harold)
38. König (King)
39. Mayer (Major)
40. Huber (Farmer)
41. Kaiser (Caesar)
42. Fuchs (Fox)
43. Peters
44. Möller (Miller)
45. Scholz (Judge)
46. Lang (Long)
47. Weiss (White)
48. Jung (Young)
49. Hahn (Rooster)
50. Vogel (Bird)

Most of the names of this list refer to the occupation of the first holder of the name.

Greece

1. Papadopoulos/ou (priest?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
2. Athanasopoulos/ou (Athanasios?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
3. Aggelopoulos/ou (Aggelos?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
4. Anastasopoulos/ou (Anastasios?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
5. Giannopoulos/ou (Ioannis?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
6. Theodorakopoulos/ou (Theodoros?s son, Peloponnese?s region, mainly of Mani)
7. Georgakopoulos/ou (Georgios?s son,Peloponnese?s region, mainly of Mani)
8. Nikolopoulos/ou (Nikolaos?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
9. Fotopoulos/ou (Fotios?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
10. Kostopoulos/ou (Konstantinos (Kostas)?s son, Peloponnese?s region)
11. Pappas/a (priest)

Hungary

1. Nagy (239,310; 'big')
2. Kovács (221,687; 'blacksmith')
3. Tóth (216,758; 'Slovak/Slav')
4. Szabó (212,586; 'tailor', cf. Schneider, Couturier)
5. Horváth, Horvát (201,059; 'Croatian')
6. Varga (139,764; 'shoemaker', cf. Schumacher, person working with leather)
7. Kiss (134,305; 'small', cf. Klein, Petit, Lepetit)
8. Molnár (109,178; 'miller', cf. Müller, Meunier
9. Németh, Német (93,990; 'German', cf. Deutsch, Lallemand)
10. Farkas (83,346; 'wolf', cf. Wolf)
11. Balogh (80,113; 'left-handed', 'unskillful')
12. Papp (53,847; 'priest')
13. Takács (53,402; 'weaver', 'cloth-maker', cf. Weber, Tissandier, Teyssandier)
14. Juhász (52,495; 'shepherd', cf. Schäfer, Berger)
15. Lakatos (45,051; 'locksmith')
16. Mészáros (41,061; 'butcher', cf. Fleischer, Boucher)
17. Simon (38,481; <given name>)
18. Oláh (38,311; Vlach, 'Romanian')
19. Fekete (35,179; 'black', cf. Schwarz, Lenoir)
20. Rácz (35,109; 'Serbian')
21. Szilágyi (31,986; from Szilágy county)
22. Török (27,206; 'Turkish')
23. Fehér (26,804; 'white', cf. Weiss, Leblanc)
24. Gál, Gaál (25,924; <given name>, 'Gallic', cf. Le Gall)
25. Balázs (25,804; <given name>)
26. Kis (24,613; see Kiss, above)
27. Sz?cs (24,416; 'leather taylor')
28. Pintér (23,951; 'cooper', cf. Binder)
29. Kocsis (23,911; 'coachman')
30. Fodor (23,371; 'curly hair')

The above is official data of the Central Personal Data Processing Office at Hungary's Ministry of Interior in 2006 http://www.nyilvantarto.hu/new/letoltes/csaladnev2006.xls.

Other frequent surnames:

Lengyel ('Polish'), Földes ('land-owner), Erd?s ('woody', 'from the forest'), Erdélyi ('Transylvanian'), Vörös, Veres, Weöres ('red-haired'), Katona ('soldier'), Fazekas ('potter'), Király ('king'), Kántor ('church singer')

Notes:

• Beside the names, the number of their owners and their meaning is given. Note that Hungarian surnames often show archaic spelling and occasionally employ obsolete words, especially for nationalities like tót or rác.
• Nationalities occur frequently as surnames, the pre-1920 Hungary being a multi-ethnic country. Because of this, there are also a lot of surnames of foreign origin. Some examples: Bauer, Mayer, Schmidt (German), Mravik, Novák, Zsilinszky (Slovak), Csernicskó (East Slavonic), Biszku, Marosán, Torgyán (Romanian), Nemcsik, Bencsics, Popovics, Petrovics (South Slavonic), Dobrev (Bulgarian), Kohn, Schwartz, Steiner (Ashkenazi Jewish)

Ireland

1. Murphy
2. Kelly
3. O'Sullivan
4. Walsh
5. Smith
6. O'Brien
7. Byrne
8. Ryan
9. Fitzgerald
10. O'Connor
11. O'Neill
12. O'Reilly
13. Doyle
14. McCarthy
15. Gallagher
16. O'Doherty
17. Kennedy
18. Lynch
19. Murray
20. Smith
21. Moore
22. Hogan

Source: The Top 500 Irish & British Surnames, The Observer, 15th April 2007.

Names starting with O' and Mac/Mc were originally patronymic.

Italy

1. Rossi (redhead, common in Northern and Central Italy)
2. Russo (redhead, common in Southern Italy)
3. Ferrari (Smith)
4. Esposito (exposed child, i.e. born then abandoned)
5. Bianchi (white-haired)
6. Romano (from Rome)
7. Colombo (Pigeon)
8. Ricci (curly-haired)
9. Marino (from the Sea)
10. Greco (from Greece)
11. Bruno (brown-skinned)
12. Gallo (from France)
13. Conti (count)
14. De Luca (son of Luca, "Luke")
15. Costa (from the Coast)
16. Giordano
17. Mancini (left-handed)
18. Rizzo (curly-haired)
19. Lombardi (from Lombardy \ descendant of the Lombards)
20. Moretti (brown haired \ swarthy)

Source: Gens.

The top 10 surnames cover about 1% of the population.

Latvia

1. B?rzi?? - Diminutive of Birch
2. Kalni?? - Diminutive of Hill
3. Ozoli?? - Diminutive of Oak
4. Jansons - Son of J?nis,one of most popular male names in Latvia,John
5. Ozols - Oak
6. Liepi?? - Diminutive of Linden
7. Kr?mi?? - Diminutive of Bush
8. Balodis - Pigeon
9. Egl?tis - Diminutive of Fir tree
10. Zari?? - Diminutive of Branch
11. P?tersons - Peter's Son
12. V?tols - Willow
13. K?avi?? - Diminutive of Maple
14. K?rkli?? - Diminutive of Sallow
15. Vanags - Hawk

Source: Latvian Institute.

Lithuania

Most popular Lithuanian surnames 2007:

Note: The Lithuanian language has different endings for surnames for men and women. The ending of a woman's surname indicates whether she is married or not. Last names of married women end in -ien? while those of unmarried girls end in -yt?, -i?t?, -ut?, -ait?.

Source: The Interesting Statistics, Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Statistics Lithuania), 2005.

Malta

Source: "Census 2005: A focus on surnames in Malta", National Statistics Office Malta http://www.nso.gov.mt/statdoc/document_view.aspx?id=1633&backurl=/themes/theme_page.aspx, November 27, 2005. Source of etymologies: http://www.searchmalta.com/surnames.

An older source gives a longer list of surnames. These are:

Source: http://www.maltavista.ru/info/surnames, which refers to "Surnames in Malta: what can they tell us?" by Prof. Joseph M. Brincat. Source of etymologies: http://www.searchmalta.com/surnames.

Netherlands

The most recent complete count of surnames in the Netherlands is based on the 1947 census. Although this data is now dated, the relative positions of these surnames will probably not have changed much.

Source: Nederlands Repertorium van Familienamen, Meertens-Instituut, 1963-1988. Data can be viewed in the Database of Surnames in the Netherlands, May 31, 1947.

Norway

1. Hansen
2. Johansen
3. Olsen
4. Larsen
5. Andersen
6. Nilsen
7. Pedersen
8. Kristiansen
9. Jensen
10. Karlsen
11. Johnsen
12. Pettersen
13. Eriksen
14. Berg
15. Haugen
16. Hagen
17. Johannessen
18. Andreassen
19. Jacobsen
20. Halvorsen

Source: Statistics Norway: Name statistics.

Poland

1. Nowak (203,506; from nowy "newman")
2. Kowalski (139,719; from kowal "smith")
3. Wi?niewski (109,855; from wi?nia "cherry")
4. Wójcik (99,509; from popular name Wojciech; from word "wojak" (warrior), from real estates Wójcza, Wójciki; from wójt, a noun describing chief officer of a municipality (gmina))
5. Kowalczyk (97,796, from kowal "smith", literally "smith's son")
6. Kami?ski (94,499; from kamie? "stone")
7. Lewandowski (92,449; from lewantyna "Levantine")
8. Zieli?ski (91,043; from zielony "green")
9. Szyma?ski (89,091; from Szymon, equivalent to Simon)
10. Wo?niak (88,039; from wóz, "cart")
11. D?browski (86,132; from d?b "oak tree")
12. Koz?owski (75,962; from kozio? "he-goat")
13. Jankowski (68,514; from Janek, equivalent to John)
14. Mazur (66,773; from Mazury, the region in Poland)
15. Wojciechowski (66,361; from the name Wojciech, equivalent to Adalbert)
16. Kwiatkowski (66,017; from kwiat "flower")
17. Krawczyk (64,048; from krawiec "tailor", "taylor's son")
18. Kaczmarek (61,816; from karczma "inn")
19. Piotrowski (61,380; from Piotr, equivalent to Peter)
20. Bagi?ski (60,492; from baginiak "master")
21. Grabowski (58,393; from grab "hornbeam")
22. Jaworski (44,104;from 'jawor' "sycamore")

It is important to remember that Polish names which end with -ski or -cki have a male and a female form - Kami?ski / Kami?ska, Wielicki / Wielicka, etc. This needs to be considered when taking a count based on, for instance, scanning a telephone book.

Source:

Slovakia

Female form is from male form + ová (Horváth ? Horváthová).

Sources: P. ?ur?o, Database of surnames in the Slovak republic, Paris 1998. Wikipedia - Slovak version.

Slovenia

1. Novak 11450
2. Horvat 10258
3. Krajnc 5839
4. Kova?i? 5699
5. Zupan?i? 5187
6. Kova? 4836
7. Poto?nik 4767
8. Mlakar 4132
9. Vidmar 4004
10. Golob 3957

Source: http://www.stat.si/eng/imena_top_priimki.asp

Spain

1. García - 1,378,000 people (3.48%) (Of Pre-Roman origin, either Iberian or Basque. Garcia was a very common first name in early medieval Spain. It is a surname of patronymic origin, like most of the -ez ending Spanish surnames.)
2. Fernández - 851,000 (2.15%) (Son of Fernando, from Germanic Fredenand or Fridnand. Most of the common Spanish surnames originating from Germanic first names were introduced in Spain during centuries V-VII by the Visigoths, so almost all of them are from the Visigoth tradition)
3. González - 839,000 (2.12%) (Son of Gonzalo, from the Latinised form Gundisalvus, of Germanic origin)
4. Rodríguez - 804,000 (2.03%) (Son of Rodrigo, from Germanic Roderic)
5. López - 796,000 (2.01%) (Son of Lope, from Latin Lupus, meaning wolf)
6. Martínez - 788,000 (1.97%) (Son of Martin, also from Latin, derived from Martis, genitive form of Mars)
7. Sánchez - 725,000 (1.83%) (Son of Sancho, from Latin Sanctius)
8. Pérez - 709,000 (1.79%) (Son of Pedro, from Latin Petrus)
9. Martín - 459,000 (1.16%) (Martin)
10. Gómez - 440,000 (1.11%) (Son of Gome, Gomo or Gomaro, also of Germanic origin)
11. Ruiz - 321,000 (0.81%) (Son of Rui, variation or short for Rodrigo)
12. Hernández - 305,000 (0.77%) (Son of Hernando, variation of Fernando)
13. Jiménez - 293,000 (0.74%) (Son of Jimeno, from Xemeno or Ximeno, of Basque origin)
14. Díaz - 293,000 (0.74%) (Son of Diago or Diego, ultimately from Greek Didachos)
15. Álvarez - 273,000 (0.69%) (Son of Alvaro, from Alvar, also of Germanic origin)
16. Moreno - 261,000 (0.66%) (Brown-haired, tanned, brunet)
17. Muńoz - 241,000 (0.61%) (Son of Munio, of Pre-Roman origin)
18. Alonso - 206,000 (0.52%) (Son of Alonso, variation of Alfonso, from Germanic Adalfuns)
19. Gutiérrez - 170,000 (0.43%) (Son of Gutier or Gutierre, from Germanic Wutier)
20. Romero - 170,000 (0.43%) (walker, pilgrim)
21. Navarro - 158,400 (0.40%) (Navarrese, from Navarra; of Toponymic origin)
22. Torres - 134,600 (0.34%) (Towers; also toponymic)
23. Domínguez - 134,600 (0.34%) (Son of Domingo, from Latin Domenicus, ultimately from Dominus, meaning lord, master)
24. Gil - 134,600 (0.34%) (From older form Egidio; also patronymic)
25. Vázquez - 130,000 (0.33%) (Son of Vasco or Velasco, of Pre-Roman origin, either Iberian or Basque)
26. Serrano - 122,700 (0.31%) (Mountain Dweller)
27. Ramos - 118,000 (0.30%) (Branches; of patronymic origin, meaning 'born in or near the Christian festivity of Branch Sunday, or Palm Sunday)
28. Blanco - 118,000 (0.30%) (White)
29. Sanz - 106,900 (0.27%) (Variation of Sanchez)
30. Castro - 102,900 (0.26%) (Hamlet, castro)
31. Suárez - 102,900 (0.26%) (Son of Suero or Suaro, of unknown origin)
32. Ortega - 99,000 (0.25%) (From Ortiga or Hortiga, a type of common plant from the nettle family; of toponymic origin; also pre-dates Roman influence, yet the name has derived from Ortún, ultimately from Latin Fortunius, meaning lucky or fortunate one, either Iberian or Basque)
33. Rubio - 99,000 (0.25%) (Blond, fair-haired; ultimately from Latin Rubeus, meaning ruddy, reddish)
34. Molina - 99,000 (0.25%) (Mill, place with mills; toponymic)
35. Delgado - 95,000 (0.24%) (Thin man)
36. Ramírez - 95,000 (0.24%) (Son of Ramiro, from Germanic Radamir or Radmir)
37. Morales - 95,000 (0.24%) (Place with abundant blackberry plants; of toponymic origin)
38. Ortiz - 87,120 (0.22%) (Son of Ortún; ultimately from Latin Fortunius, meaning fortunate one, similar to Ortega)
39. Marín - 83,160 (0.21%) (From Latin Marinus, meaning seaman, sailor)
40. Iglesias - 83,160 (0.21%) (Churches; toponymic origin)

Source: http://www.ociototal.com/recopila2/r_aficiones/apellidos.html - Data from December 1999. (2004 data confirmation of top 25)

Family names ending in -ez are typically patronymic

The top 10 surnames cover about 20% of population.

Sweden

• Johansson (3.3%)
• Andersson (3.2%)
• Karlsson (2.5%)
• Nilsson (2.2%)
• Eriksson (1.7%)
• Larsson (1.6%)
• Olsson (1.4%)
• Persson (1.4%)
• Svensson (1.3%)
• Gustafsson (0.90%)
• Pettersson (0.83%)
• Jonsson (0.72%)
• Jansson (0.63%)
• Hansson (0.54%)
• Bengtsson (0.42%)
• Jönsson (0.42%)
• Petersson (0.37%)
• Carlsson (0.34%)
• Gustavsson (0.32%)
• Magnusson (0.32%)
• Lindberg (0.31%)
• Olofsson (0.30%)

Source: Official statistics.

The most common names in Sweden are originally patronymic, which means that the son of e.g. Karl received the surname Karlsson (Karl's son). The daughter received the name Karlsdotter (Karl's daughter). Since the 19th century these names are inherited indifferent of the previous tradition and carried as family names. Even though these "son-names" are the most common names in Sweden, a majority of the Swedes have other family names consisting of two items from nature, for example Lindberg (linden/lime mountain), Bergkvist (mountain twig), Alström/Ahlström (alder stream). Other names like Sjöman (Seaman) and Nyman (Newman) contain professions and adjectives. Many families also have military-oriented names as Skarpsvärd (sharp sword) Sköld (shield) and Stolt (proud). Those names were originally appointed to soldiers from 16th century and onwards based on either character, merit or inheritance (a professional soldier had the right to change his name to that of his predecessor). Due to the greater diversity of these names each specific name is less common than most "son-names". Given the large quantity of citizens of foreign heritage it is a matter of time before their surnames will be present high up in the official statistics, especially when grouped together instead of listed as separate surnames because of slightly different spelling or omitted umlauts etc. Persons with ancestors of noble origin in Sweden often have surnames referring to their coat of arms and sometimes the names are also of non-Swedish origin.

The top 10 surnames cover about 20% of the population.

United Kingdom

England, Wales and Isle of Man

The following list is for England, Wales, and the Isle of Man, and is based on a survey of the National Health Service Central Registerhttp://freespace.virgin.net/philip.dance1/offstats/names1-500.htm.

1. Smith (1.15%)
2. Jones (0.94%)
3. Williams (0.66%)
4. Taylor (0.53%)
5. Brown (0.51%)
6. Davies (0.48%)
7. Evans (0.39%)
8. Wilson (0.35%)
9. Thomas (0.35%)
10. Johnson (0.34%)
11. Roberts (0.33%)
12. Robinson (0.29%)
13. Thompson (0.28%)
14. Wright (0.28%)
15. Walker (0.27%)
16. White (0.27%)
17. Edwards (0.27%)
18. Hughes (0.26%)
19. Green (0.25%)
20. Hall (0.25%)