The Most Popular Last Name in Every Country in the World, and What They Mean

The answers below are far more interesting than you might think — and will definitely make you a bar trivia god this weekend.

Editor’s Note: For concision’s sake, we’ve only broken down the etymology of each name once, at its first inclusion, and added other fun facts when appropriate as the name comes up again. Countries that belong to two continents are grouped under according to map representation. This list also excludes territories.

North America

Antigua and Barbuda

Joseph
Family name derived from the Hebrew name “Yosef,” meaning “May God have another son.” One of three Caribbean islands where this is the most common name.

Bahamas

Rolle
Like many Caribbean surnames, Rolle is taken from a European name passed on to enslaved people from early colonizers. This one is the Middle High German rolle, which, much like it does today, means “list” or “roster.” It may have referred to someone who worked as a scribe.

Barbados

Clarke
Taken from Olde English clerc, which means “priest.” May have denoted a religious clerk or scribe.

Belize

Martinez
Derived from the Latin name Martinus, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of fertility and war.

Canada

Smith
Occupational name for someone who works with metal.

Costa Rica

Rodriguez
Derived from the Germanic word hrōdrīc, which is a compound of hrōd — meaning “renown” — and rīc, meaning “power.”

Cuba

Rodriguez
Five countries have Rodriguez as their most popular name, the most of any in Latin America.

Dominica

Joseph

Dominican Republic

Rodriguez

El Salvador

Hernandez
Related to “Fernandez,” which is derived from Ferdinand, an Old German combination of farð — meaning “journey” — and nanð — meaning “courage” or “daring.” Collectively, it translates to “bold voyager.” Literally “son of Hernando” or “son of Fernando.” Meaning Fernandez and Hernandez are almost the same name.

Grenada

Charles
French form of the Germanic word carl, which means “man.”

Guatemala

Lopez
Means “wolf.”

Haiti

Jean
French for John, which like Johannes means “God has favored me with a son,” or “bless this child.”

Honduras

Hernandez

Jamaica

Brown
This term refers to physical appearance, specifically someone with brown hair and/or complexion.

Mexico

Hernandez
Over 4.8 million Mexicans have this last name, a full 1.3 million more than second-place Garcia.

Nicaragua

Lopez
One in 27 people in Nicaragua have this wolf-meaning name.

Panama

Rodriguez

St. Kitts and Nevis

Williams
Derived from William, which is a combination of the Germanic will, meaning “want” or “desire,” and helm, meaning “helmet.”

St. Lucia

Joseph

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Williams

Trinidad and Tobago

Mohammed
A reference to the great Islamic prophet, which in Arabic also means “praiseworthy.” Trinidad and Tobago is the only Caribbean nation where the most popular surnames are Arabic, with Mohammed and Ali ranking first and second.

United States

Smith
Nearly 3 million Americans are named Smith, followed closely by Johnson with 2.3 million and Williams with 1.9 million. Rounding out the American top 10 are Brown; Jones; Miller; Davis; Wilson; Anderson; and Taylor.

South America

Argentina

Gonzalez
This literally means “son of Gonzalo,” and though you don’t meet a lot of Gonzalos walking around these days, back in medieval times you did meet a good number of Gundisalvus’. This was a Latin version of a Germanic name combining the words gund — meaning “war” — and salv, with a meaning that’s unclear. So, to summarize, Gonzalez means “son of war.”

Bolivia

Mamani
Refers to someone who came from the Spanish town of Miaman, which is present-day Ourense. One could draw the conclusion that many Spanish settlers in Bolivia came from that region.

Brazil

da Silva
Means someone from a number of places called Silva, which means “thicket” or
“bramble.”

Chile

Gonzalez

Colombia

Rodriguez

Ecuador

Garcia
Its exact origin is unclear though the name dates to medieval times and is likely related to a Basque word meaning either “young” or “bear.”

Guyana

Persaud
West Indian alteration of Indian name Prasad, from the Sanskrit prasada, meaning “favor,” “grace,” or “offering.”

Paraguay

Gonzalez

Peru

Quispe
From Aymara word for “glass” or “precious stone.”

Suriname

Lin
From a Chinese root word for “forest.”

Uruguay

Rodriguez

Venezuela

Gonzalez

Europe

Albania

Hoxha
Derived from a Persian word khvajeh, which means “lord.”

Andorra

Garcia
This independent country sandwiched between France and Spain has more Spanish-leaning names.

Armenia

Gregoryan
The most common name in Armenia is taken from the proper name Grigor, from the Greek Gregorios — meaning “to be awake” or “watchful.”

Austria

Gruber
Austria’s most common name is taken from the Middle High German word groube, which means “pit” or “hollow.” Basically it refers to one who lives in a depression, hollow, or other lowered area.

Belarus

Ivanov
Means “son of Ivan.”

Belgium

Peeters
Taken from the name Petrus, which means “rock” or “stone.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hodžić
This name taken from the word hoza means “son of the lord” or “son of the master.” Its root is from the Persian word khawaja, meaning “lord” or “master.”

Bulgaria

Ivanov
One of three countries where the most common name is a descendant of Ivan.

Croatia

Horvat
Taken from Croatian word hrvat, which means “person from Croatia.” This would be like if the most common name here was actually Johnny America.

Cyprus

Georgiou
If you’ve traveled the rural countryside of this Mediterranean island then it’s not much surprise its most common name means “rustic” or “farmer.”

Czech Republic

Novakova
When the most common name in your country comes from a Slavic word for “newcomer,” it must get confusing to know who has actually lived there a while.

Denmark

Jensen
Shortened version of “son of Johannes.” Johannes is a version of John, Jean, and other variants, which means “Jehovah has favored me with a son” or “God bless this child.”

Estonia

Tamm
Means “oak tree” or “dam.”

Finland

Korhonen
Gotta love those playful Finns, whose most common surname comes from the word korho, which literally means “deaf person” but is also used to describe someone who is clumsy, silly, or foolish.

France

Martin
Like Martinez, this name is derived from Mars, the Roman god of war and fertility.

Germany

Müller
Also Mueller, referring to one who mills grain. Any surprise this country’s good at beer?

Greece

Papadopoulos
Combination of papas, which means “priest” in Greek, and poulus, which means “son.” So we can assume Greek priests were not a celibate order.

Hungary

Nagy
Hungarian word for “big,” referring to a large or powerful person.

Iceland

Jónsdóttir
Fairly self-explanatory if you read it out loud, this means “daughter of John” in Icelandic.

Ireland

Murphy
No surprise as this is also the most common name for any American bar that offers two-for-one shots of Jameson, Murphy comes from the Gaelic name Ó Murchadha, meaning “descendant of Murchadh,” a personal name meaning “sea-warrior.”

Italy

Rossi
Interesting to see the most common name of stereotypically dark-haired, olive-skinned Italians refers to a person with red hair and a ruddy complexion.

Kosovo

Krasniqi
A descendant from the Krasniqi tribe of northern Albania.

Latvia

Bērziņš
Related to bērzs, the Latvian word for birch trees, this literally means “one who lives among birch trees.”

Liechtenstein

Büchel
From the Middle High German bühel — which loosely translates to “hill” — this name refers to someone living on a hill.

Lithuania

Kazlauskas
Name related to the familiarly-Polish Kozlowski, it literally means someone from any number of places called Kozłów.

Luxembourg

Schmit
Middle High German version of Schmidt — or Smith. Literally, it’s the “Smith” of Luxembourg.

Macedonia

Stojanovski
The “Stojanov” part of the name is of unknown Macedonian origin, but the “ski” suffix is the result of the government’s effort to make names sound more Greek.

Malta

Borg
Old Norse word meaning “fortification” or “fort.”

Moldova

Rusu
Refers to a person of Russian descent, like Ruski.

Monaco

Rossi
One family can tip the scales in Monaco, as the 89 Rossis could be easily overtaken by the Lorenzis, who number 67.

Montenegro

Popovic
Not a nation of die-hard Spurs fans, this name is a mixture of the Serbian word for priest, pop, and the suffix “ovich,” which means “son of.”

Netherlands

de Jong
Dutch name meaning “young.”

Norway

Hansen
Old Norse word meaning “creators of annoyingly catchy songs.” Or it’s a derivative of Hans, which is an aphetic form of Johannes.

Poland

Nowak
Derived from the Polish word nowy, meaning “new.” Denotes a newcomer or someone new to the area.

Portugal

Silva
This is close to the most popular name in Brazil too, meaning “person from a thicket.”

Romania

Popa
From Romanian word popa, meaning “priest.”

San Marino

Gasperoni
From the Latin word gasparus, which comes from the Persian word kaspar, meaning “treasurer.”

Serbia

Jovanovic
Meaning “son of Jovan,” another of the Jean/John/Johannes family.

Slovakia

Varga
From the Hungarian word for “cobbler” or “shoemaker.”

Slovenia

Novak
From Slavic word for “new,” meaning one is a newcomer.

Spain

Garcia
Almost 1.5 million people in Spain have this name from a Basque word for “bear.”

Sweden

Andersson
Meaning son of Anders, which is ultimately derived from the Greek andreios, meaning “manly.”

Switzerland

Müller

Turkey

Yilmaz
Turkish name meaning “unyielding.”

Ukraine

Melnik
Russian occupational name for miller, or one who works with grain.

United Kingdom

Smith
Guessing there were a LOT of people working with metal in old-timey England.

Vatican City

Bachmann
Exactly four people with this name live in Vatican City. If one more Graf moves in, it’ll drop to #2.

Africa

Algeria

Saidi
Ancestral name and derivative of the word sayyid, which means “lord” or “master.”

Angola

Manuel
Manuel is short for Emmanuel, which if you paid attention to all those Christmas carols you may recall as Immanuel — Hebrew for “God is with us.”

Benin

Bio
Unknown.

Botswana

Molefe
The father of the Batlôkwa tribe — found in Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa — was named Modungwane. This name is thought to be from its commonly-used shortened version, Molefe.

Burkina Faso

Ouedraogo
A little like how immigration officials at Ellis Island shaped American surnames in the 20th century, so did the French in their former African colonies. This name is a French spelling of Wedraogo, son of Princess Yennega, the mother of the Mossi people.

Burundi

Nkurunziza
Bantu name meaning “good news.”

Cameroon

Ngo
Proto-Indo-European word meaning “ox” or “bull.”

Cape Verde

Lopes
From the medieval word lopo, which means “wolf.” Lopes itself is Portuguese, stemming from Cape Verde’s time as a colony of Portugal.

Central African Republic

Moussa
Variant of Musa, a reference to Moses.

Chad

Mahamat
African variant of Mohammad.

Comoros

Mohamed

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Kone
Unknown.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ilunga
A highly-efficient Bantu word meaning “a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.”

Djibouti

Mohamed

Egypt

Mohamed

Equatorial Guinea

Nguema

Eritrea

Ali
The name referring to the all-high was also the name of Ali IbnAbi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed.

eSwatini (formerly Swaziland)

Dlamini
A fifth of the country has this name relating to the Dlamini people.

Ethiopia

Tesfaye
Taken from tesfa, which means “my hope” in Amharic.

Gabon

Ndong
Unknown. The tenth-most popular name here? Obame.

The Gambia

Jallow
Fula name that comes from the Arabic word jalil, “meaning greatness.”

Ghana

Mensah
Name for the third-born child in Akan, a language native to Ghana.

Guinea

Diallo
Another French colonial spelling of a native name, this Fula name means “bold.”

Guinea-Bissau

Gomes
Taken from the Visigoth name “Guma,” which means “man.”

Kenya

Mwangi
Means “rapid expansion” in Kikuyu.

Lesotho

Mohapi
Sotho word for “victor” or “champion.”

Liberia

Kollie
Distantly derived from Old Norse word kollir, meaning “helmet.”

Libya

Ali

Madagascar

Rakotomalalav
Rakoto is actually quite common in Malagasy surnames, with the three most popular beginning with this prefix, and four of the top 10. This version is blended with the word malawi, which means “beloved.” All 10 of the most popular names begin with the letter R, which probably makes alphabetizing in Madagascar a nightmare.

Malawi

Banda
Forgive Malawians if they have a bit of an ego, but when your most common name literally translates to “I am a gift from God,” it can be hard to stay humble. Malawi’s first prime minister was named Hastings Banda, and as it is customary in this part of Africa to have surnames that speak to life aspirations, he may also be responsible for much of its popularity.

Mali

Traore
Originally this name was something more along the lines of “Tarawele,” a Manding word meaning “the called ones,” referring to calls to battle. But when French colonizers began writing it down, the name took on this form.

Mauritania

Ba
A couple of possibilities here: First, it could be a Fula prefix denoting where someone comes from, like Ba-Sudan. But it could also be a shortened form of aba, the Arabic word for father.

Mauritius

Beeharry
Sadly, this is not a last name that excuses its owners from body hair maintenance, nor is it a reference to a furry insect. Rather it comes from the Sanskrit word vihara, which means “one who roams about for pleasure.”

Morocco

Alaoui
This is essentially the same as Ali, but a French transcription.

Mozambique

Langa
Bantu word meaning “sun” or “light.”

Namibia

Johannes
German derivative of John.

Niger

Abdou
Derived from the Arabic abduh, which means “his servant.” Though in this case the “him” is Allah.

Nigeria

Ibrahim
Arabic for Abraham, the father of all Semitic peoples.

Republic of the Congo

Ngoma
Means “song,” “drum,” or the song made by beating a drum.

Rwanda

Uwimana
Rwandan origin meaning “daughter of God.”

Sao Tome and Principe

Fernandes
Literally is “son of Fernando,” though that name is taken from the Gothic name Frithunanths. Broken down it’s “frith,” which means “peace with,” and “nanth” which means “daring.”

Senegal

Ndiaye
From Arabic nadīy, meaning “generous.”

Seychelles

Hoareau
You can credit Rene Hoareau, one of the first French settlers in the Seychelles, with the popularity of this name.

Sierra Leone

Kamara
Derived from the Aribic word qamar, meaning “moon.”

Somalia

Ali
Combined with Abdi, the second-most popular name in Somalia, about 1.9 million of Somalia’s 14.74 million people have some derivative of a name meaning “all high” or “lofty.”

South Africa

Nkosi
Means “god” or “king.”

South Sudan

Deng
It’s no coincidence in the tropical climate of South Sudan, the Dinki people’s most powerful god is Deng, the god of rain.

Sudan

Ahmed
Alternate spelling of Ahmad, a word meaning “most praised” in reference to the prophet Mohammed. It’s also the second- or third-most popular name in a number of Islamic countries.

Tanzania

Juma
Derived from the Arabic word jum’a, which means “assembly.” The name is often given to people born on Friday, the “day of assembly” in Islam.

Togo

Lawson
Literally means “son of Lawrence,” but proliferated in Togo due to the slave trade.

Tunisia

Trabelsi
Refers to people from Tripoli in Libya. Pronounced “trablus” in Maghrebi Arabic.

Uganda

Akello
A term from the Luo people meaning a child born after twins.

Zambia

Phiri
This is the name of a clan from the Chewa people, who inhabit central and southern Africa.

Zimbabwe

Moyo
Zimbabwean name meaning “the heart.”

Asia

Afghanistan

Muhammadi
A derivative of Mohammad.

Azerbaijan

Mammadova
Means “son of Mammad.”

Bahrain

Ali
From the Arabic Al-Ali, which means “all high.” It can also mean “lofty” or “sublime,” and is a reference to Allah, the almighty god in Islam.

Bangladesh

Akter
A variant on the Arabic word akhtar, meaning “star” or “good luck.” Ironic for a country that seems to never catch a break.

Brunei

Haji
Reference to one who has made the hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

Cambodia

Sok
The word means “thick rope or chain” in Cantonese, but may also refer to people from Suo, a Chinese state during the Shang dynasty.

China

Wang
If you thought that Smith stat in the intro was crazy, if everyone in China named Wang formed a country it would be the 14th most-populous in the world, right between the Philippines and Egypt. Over 103 million people share this name that means prince, king, or vast.

Georgia

Beridze
Unknown.

India

Devi
From Sanskrit word for “goddess.”

Indonesia

Sari
Indonesian word for “essence.”

Iran

Mohammadi

Iraq

Mohamed

Israel

Cohen
From the Hebrew kohen, meaning priest. This referred mostly to the kohanim caste of priests, descended from Moses’ brother Aaron.

Japan

Sato
This denotes a descendant of the Sato family, a branch of the Fujiwara clan dating back to the ninth century.

Jordan

Allah

Kazakhstan

Kim
Translates to “gold.”

Kuwait

Ali

Kyrgyzstan

Ismailova
From the Uyghur name for Ismael, the son of Abraham, whose name means “God will hear.” The -ova suffix makes this “son of Ismael.”

Laos

Inthavong
Unknown Laotian term.

Lebanon

El Din
Combination of Arabic words el — meaning “god” — and din — meaning religion or faith. So, effectively, this means “god faith” or “faith in “god.”

Malaysia

Tan
Refers to people from the Zhou dynasty-era state of Tan.

Maldives

Mohamed

Mongolia

Ganbold
Just when you thought Mongolia couldn’t get any more badass, you learn the most common name in the country means steel.

Myanmar

Maung
Burmese term of honor for a younger brother.

Nepal

Caudhari
Sanskrit word meaning “holder of four,” which may refer to the amount of land someone owns.

North Korea

Kim
A full 25 percent of North Koreans have this last name, which is a reference to “gold.”

Oman

Al Balushi
Al Balushi is not the long lost third member of a great Chicago comedy family, but rather a tribal surname meaning someone is of Baloch ancestry.

Pakistan

Khan
From Turkish word meaning “ruler” or “nobleman.” You’re yelling it like William Shatner in your head right now, aren’t you?

Palestine

Awad
Based on Arabic word for reverence or kindness.

Philippines

de la Cruz
Filipino take on the French name “de la Croix,” which means “of the cross.” Pacquiao did not crack the top 10. Yet.

Qatar

Khan
Just when you’d gotten Captain Kirk out of your head…

Russia

Ivanova

Saudi Arabia

Khan

Singapore

Tan
Over 723,000 people, or one in eight Singaporeans, has this name from the Tan state of the Zhou dynasty.

South Korea

Kim
Over 11 million, or one in five, South Koreans are named Kim.

Sri Lanka

Perera
From the Portuguese word pereira, meaning “palm tree.”

Syria

Khaled
From the Arabic word khalid, meaning “eternal” or “remaining.”

Taiwan

Chen
Refers to people from the Chen region, in Henan province.

Tajikistan

Sharipov
Literally means “son of Sharip,” which is a Tajik version of Sharif. Who, as you may recall, don’t like it.

Thailand

Saetang
Thai variation of Chen, the most popular name in a number of other Asian countries referring to people from Chen in the Henan province.

Timor-Leste (East Timor)

Soares
From Portueguese word soeiro, meaning “swineherd.”

Turkmenistan

Mamedova
Means “son of Mammad.”

United Arab Emirates

Ali
Of the seven countries where Ali or some form of it is the most popular surname, this is the only one with an indoor ski slope.

Uzbekistan

Karimov
Unknown.

Vietnam

Nguyen
Vietnamese version of the Chinese word ruan, which is a type of lute.

Yemen

Mohamed
That’s over 10 countries, if you were counting, where some version of Mohamed is the most popular name.

Oceania

Australia

Smith
Smith, to exactly no one’s surprise, is the most common name in five countries, which also happen to be the largest majority of English-speaking countries in the world.

Fiji

Kumar
From the Sanskrit kumara, which means “son,” “child,” or “prince.” Prince of a white castle, perhaps?

Kiribati

Ioane
Member of the John/Jean/Johannes family of etymology.

Marshall Islands

John
Same as Jean, Johannes, and other versions of the “blessed with a son” name.

Micronesia

Mori
From a Japanese word for “forest,” that more specifically means the hallowed ground around a shrine.

Nauru

Harris
Derived from the English name Harry, which is a combination of the Germanic word haim, which means “home.” And rīc, meaning “power” or “ruler.”

New Zealand

Smith

Palau

Tellei
This island nation of just over 21,000 only has seven last names with over 400 people. The origin of this most-popular one is unknown.

Papua New Guinea

John
The two next most popular surnames here are Peter and Paul, and the entire top 10 are English names of biblical origin.

Samoa

Meredith
Taken from the Welsh name Maredudd, a combination of words meaning “pomp” and “lord.”

Solomon Islands

Mae
Japanese for “front” or “before.”

Tonga

Latu
About 2,700 Tongans have this native name of unknown meaning.

Tuvalu

Apinelu
Technically, this tied with Smith for most popular name in this small Pacific island nation. But really, don’t we have enough Smiths on this list?

Vanuatu

Tari
Native name of unknown origin beat out yet-another John by 1,400 people.