Most Common Last Names in Michigan

Top 3 — Michigan

#2 english

Johnson

Patronymic

9,610 people

1 in every 170 Michigan residents

Johnson means 'son of John,' from the Hebrew Yohanan, 'God is gracious.' In Michigan, its prominence reflects both older Anglo-American settlement and Detroit's Great Migration era, when southern Black families made the city one of the Midwest's major destinations.

#1 english

Smith

Occupational

21,597 people

1 in every 76 Michigan residents

From Old English 'smith', a metalworker. Smith leads Michigan partly because it was already widespread before statehood, and partly because an industrial state built on foundries, machine shops, and auto plants never lacked families carrying the classic craft surname.

#3 english

Brown

Descriptive

9,461 people

1 in every 173 Michigan residents

From Old English 'brun', originally a nickname for someone with brown hair, complexion, or clothing. Brown became deeply rooted in Michigan through both early settlement and twentieth-century Detroit migration, especially in neighborhoods built around factory work.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Detroit Industry, Polish Hamtramck, and Dutch West Michigan

Detroit's rise as an auto capital drew Black families from the South in the First and Second Great Migration, which helped keep Johnson, Williams, Brown, Davis, and Wilson near the top statewide. At the same time, Hamtramck exploded from 3,559 residents in 1910 to 46,615 in 1920 as Polish workers arrived for Dodge Main, while Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte's 1847 Dutch colony at Holland left a second, very different surname layer in Ottawa and surrounding counties. Dearborn later added another distinct stream through Arab American settlement tied to Ford-era labor migration and the city's long-standing mosque and community institutions.

Did you know? Hamtramck's population jumped more than thirteenfold between 1910 and 1920 because Polish immigrants came for Dodge Main, which helps explain why surnames such as Kowalski, Nowak, Jankowski, and Dombrowski stand out in Michigan far more than they do in most states.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Michigan

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Smith english

21,597

1 in 76

Johnson english

9,610

1 in 170

Brown english

9,461

1 in 173

Miller english

9,193

1 in 178

Miller is an occupational surname for someone who ran a grain mill. In Michigan it also reflects German immigration, since families named Muller or Mueller often anglicized their names after settling in places such as Detroit, Grand Rapids, and the farm belt.

Clark english

6,817

1 in 240

Clark comes from 'clerk,' originally a literate or clerical worker. Its unusually high Michigan rank points to the state's older Anglo-American and New England settlement layer, which remained strong even after later industrial immigration changed the rest of the list.

Williams welsh

5,634

1 in 290

Williams means 'son of William,' from the Germanic name Willahelm. In Michigan, especially metro Detroit, it rose with Black migration from southern states during the decades when Ford, Chrysler, and GM were hiring at scale.

Davis welsh

5,077

1 in 322

Davis means 'son of David,' from the Hebrew for 'beloved.' Michigan's Davis families come from several streams, but Detroit's role as an industrial magnet in the twentieth century helped keep the name near the statewide top tier.

Wilson english

4,958

1 in 330

Wilson means 'son of Will,' a short form of William. It spread into Michigan with English and Scots-Irish settlers and later expanded in Detroit's industrial neighborhoods during the same migration cycles that strengthened Johnson and Williams.

Jones welsh

4,804

1 in 341

Jones is the classic Welsh form meaning 'son of John.' It is common across the Midwest, but in Michigan it also reflects the long movement of families from Appalachia and the South into factory work around Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw.

#10

Allen english

4,356

1 in 376

Allen likely derives from a Celtic personal name often glossed as 'little rock' or 'handsome.' It is an old American surname in Michigan, carried by settlers into the southern Lower Peninsula well before the state's later immigrant and industrial waves.

#11

Hall english

4,339

1 in 377

Hall referred to someone who lived or worked at a hall or manor house. Michigan inherited it from early Anglo-American settlement, and the name stayed durable because it crossed easily from rural counties into the state's growing cities.

#12

Thompson english

4,255

1 in 384

Thompson means 'son of Thomas.' The surname entered Michigan through British and Scots-Irish migration, then remained common as southern and Appalachian workers moved north into the state's mines, mills, and assembly plants.

#13

Taylor english

4,071

1 in 402

Taylor comes from Old French 'tailleur,' meaning a cutter of cloth. It fits Michigan's broad urban history, where tailoring, retail trades, and later industrial labor all helped common English surnames stay visible statewide.

#14

White english

4,062

1 in 403

White began as a nickname for someone with light hair or a pale complexion. In Michigan it belongs to both older settler families and later Black families whose surnames became part of the state's urban growth during the twentieth century.

#15

Martin french

4,028

1 in 406

Martin derives from Latin Martinus, connected to Mars. Michigan gives the name a double history: it belongs to English-speaking settlers, but it also fits the state's older French and French-Canadian presence that reaches back to Detroit's founding in 1701.

#16

Cook english

3,891

1 in 420

Cook is an occupational surname for a professional cook or kitchen worker. In Michigan, where hotels, lumber camps, mines, and factory cities all needed service labor, the name stayed more visible than in many neighboring states.

#17

Baker english

3,749

1 in 436

Baker comes from the medieval trade of bread-making. It is one of several straightforward occupational surnames that remained strong in Michigan's mix of farm towns, immigrant neighborhoods, and industrial cities.

#18

Anderson scandinavian

3,668

1 in 446

Anderson means 'son of Anders' or Andrew. Its Michigan strength reflects Scandinavian settlement in the Upper Peninsula and northern counties, where mining, logging, and lake shipping drew immigrants from northern Europe in the late nineteenth century.

#19

Moore english

3,630

1 in 451

Moore usually refers to someone who lived near a moor, though it can also anglicize the Irish O Mordha. In Michigan it spread widely enough that it now reads as a general statewide surname rather than one tied to a single ethnic stream.

#20

Green english

3,586

1 in 456

Green originally described someone living near a village green or someone associated with the color green. In Michigan, its statewide spread reflects the same broad settlement and labor migration patterns that keep other short English surnames in the top 20.

Local Insight

Uniquely Michigan

These family names rank far higher in Michigan than nationally — a direct fingerprint of the state's specific immigration waves.

Dykstra dutch

Ranked #339 in Michigan versus #4199 nationally. That is 3860 spots higher here.

Dykstra is far more visible in Michigan than in the country as a whole because west Michigan became a major Dutch settlement zone in 1847. Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte's Holland colony and the later growth of Zeeland and nearby towns helped preserve Dutch surnames at unusual density.

Kowalski polish

Ranked #336 in Michigan versus #1884 nationally. That is 1548 spots higher here.

Kowalski, the Polish equivalent of Smith, is one of Michigan's clearest industrial-immigration surnames. Hamtramck and Detroit's Poletown became major Polish centers in the early twentieth century, especially after Dodge Main opened in 1914 and drew workers by the thousands.

Nowak polish

Ranked #354 in Michigan versus #1731 nationally. That is 1377 spots higher here.

Nowak means 'newcomer' in Polish, and Michigan has an unusually strong concentration because metro Detroit became one of the country's major Polish American regions. The name remained visible well beyond the first immigrant generation because Polish parishes, businesses, and neighborhoods endured for decades.

Navarre french

Ranked #827 in Michigan versus #13367 nationally. That is 12540 spots higher here.

Navarre points back to the old French layer of southeast Michigan. Detroit was founded by the French in 1701, and surnames carried by early French and later French-Canadian families persisted along the Detroit River far more than in most of the United States.

Dombrowski polish

Ranked #930 in Michigan versus #4937 nationally. That is 4007 spots higher here.

Dombrowski is another Polish surname that overperforms in Michigan because factory-era migration to Detroit and Hamtramck was so concentrated. It is the kind of name that still signals the state's deep Polish Catholic and working-class history.

Etymology

Michigan Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Michigan's top 20 contains an unusually strong block of old occupational surnames, including Smith, Miller, Clark, Taylor, Cook, and Baker. That pattern fits a state whose identity was shaped by craft work first and mass industry later, from mills and foundries to the auto assembly line.

Smith (metalworker) Miller (grain miller) Clark (clerk) Baker (bread maker)

Patronymic Names

Patronymics such as Johnson, Williams, Davis, Wilson, Jones, Thompson, and Anderson dominate much of Michigan's upper ranking. They came from several streams at once: older British settlement, Scandinavian migration in the north, and Black migration into Detroit during the twentieth century.

Johnson (son of John) Williams (son of William) Thompson (son of Thomas) Anderson (son of Anders)

Polish and Dutch Immigrant Names

Michigan's most distinctive surname layer sits below the top 20, where Polish and Dutch names become far more common than national averages would predict. Hamtramck's factory-era Polish growth elevated names such as Kowalski and Nowak, while Holland and Zeeland preserved Dutch surnames such as Dykstra in west Michigan.

Kowalski (blacksmith) Nowak (newcomer) Dykstra (from the dike) Jankowski (from Jan or Jankow place-name)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Michigan?

The most common last names in Michigan are Smith, Johnson, Brown, Miller, and Clark. Just below them are Williams, Davis, Wilson, and Jones, which shows how strongly English-language surnames still dominate the statewide list.

Why are Polish last names so common in Michigan?

Polish last names are so common in Michigan because Detroit and especially Hamtramck became major Polish immigrant centers in the early twentieth century. The opening of Dodge Main in 1914 accelerated that pattern, and family names such as Kowalski, Nowak, Jankowski, and Dombrowski remained rooted in metro Detroit for generations.

Why is Dykstra more common in Michigan than in most states?

Dykstra is more common in Michigan because west Michigan became one of the country's strongest Dutch settlement regions beginning in 1847. Dutch colonists around Holland and Zeeland kept surnames such as Dykstra, Van Dyke, and DeYoung much more visible than national averages would suggest.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Michigan — Primary source for Michigan surname rankings, counts, ratios, and national rank comparisons
U.S. Census Bureau - QuickFacts: Michigan — Michigan population reference, including the 2010 Census total used for statewide context
Detroit Historical Society - Hamtramck — History of Hamtramck, including Dodge Main and the 1910 to 1920 Polish population surge
Holland Charter Township - Our History — Local history of the 1847 Dutch colony led by Albertus C. Van Raalte and the development of Holland Township
National Archives - The Great Migration (1910-1970) — Federal overview of the Great Migration, including Detroit's role as a major northern destination
Arab American National Museum — Dearborn-based institution documenting Arab American history in Michigan and the United States

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Smith
People named #1: 21,597
1 in every: 76 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 9,883,640
Census year: 2026

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Most Common Last Names in Michigan

Detroit Industry, Polish Hamtramck, and Dutch West Michigan

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Michigan

Uniquely Michigan