Most Common Last Names in Montana

Top 3 — Montana

#2 english

Smith

Occupational

7,341 people

1 in every 142 Montana residents

From Old English 'smiþ', a metalworker or blacksmith. Smith spread early in Montana because mining camps, railroad towns, and ranch settlements all needed blacksmiths, making it common from the territorial era onward.

#1 scandinavian

Johnson

Patronymic

7,706 people

1 in every 135 Montana residents

Johnson means 'son of John,' and in Montana much of its strength comes from Scandinavian forms such as Johansson and Jonsson simplified in American records. The name rose with homesteaders who moved onto the Hi-Line and nearby wheat country after the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909.

#3 scandinavian

Anderson

Patronymic

5,856 people

1 in every 178 Montana residents

Anderson means 'son of Anders' or Andrew. Its very high Montana rank reflects the Scandinavian settlement that followed rail expansion and the early twentieth-century homestead rush across the northern plains.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Homesteaders, Copper Camps, and the Hi-Line

Montana's modern surname ranking was shaped by two major settlement surges after Native homelands had already been broken apart by conquest, treaty, and federal policy. Gold strikes at Bannack, Virginia City, and Helena in the 1860s, then Butte's copper boom in the 1880s, drew English, Irish, Cornish, and other mining families into the territory. Railroads crossing the state in the 1880s opened the plains to larger-scale settlement, and the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 brought tens of thousands of farm families into north-central and northeastern Montana. That later boom helps explain why Johnson, Anderson, Nelson, Peterson, Olson, Larson, and Hanson all sit so high in Montana's top 20.

Did you know? Lozeau is one of Montana's most concentrated surnames: a former Mineral County community took the name after Adolph and Louise Lozeau, who built a trading post on the Mullan Road in the mid-1860s.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Montana

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Johnson scandinavian

7,706

1 in 135

Smith english

7,341

1 in 142

Anderson scandinavian

5,856

1 in 178

Miller english

4,936

1 in 211

Miller is an occupational surname for someone who ran a grain mill. In Montana it fits both the older Anglo-American surname layer and the farm economy that expanded across the Golden Triangle and Hi-Line during the wheat boom.

Brown english

4,799

1 in 217

Brown began as a nickname for someone with brown hair, complexion, or clothing. In Montana it is common enough to appear in mining, ranching, and railroad records alike, which makes it less a regional marker than a sign of broad English-language settlement.

Williams welsh

3,685

1 in 282

Williams means 'son of William.' The surname traveled west with migrants from older states and also fits Montana's nineteenth-century mining world, where Welsh and other British workers joined the labor force in camps and smelter towns.

Nelson scandinavian

3,667

1 in 284

Nelson means 'son of Nels' or Nils. Montana's high ranking for Nelson points to the same Scandinavian farm settlement that reshaped counties along the Hi-Line in the years before and after World War I.

Jones welsh

3,288

1 in 316

Jones is the classic Welsh patronymic meaning 'son of John.' In Montana it reflects the broad British and American migration streams that fed mining towns, railroad camps, and later prairie settlements.

Peterson scandinavian

3,054

1 in 340

Peterson means 'son of Peter,' often anglicized from Petersen. Its prominence in Montana is another clue that many homesteading families on the northern plains arrived from Scandinavian communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and directly from Europe.

#10

Davis welsh

2,978

1 in 349

Davis means 'son of David.' The surname is common across the United States, but in Montana it took root through the same territorial-era inflow that filled gold camps, stock ranges, and county seats after the 1860s.

#11

Thompson english

2,643

1 in 393

Thompson means 'son of Thomas.' It appears across Montana in both older mining districts and later farm counties, showing how British and Upper Midwestern family lines overlapped in the state.

#12

Olson scandinavian

2,642

1 in 394

Olson means 'son of Ole' or Olof. Few surnames signal Montana's prairie homesteading era more clearly, since the name ranks far higher here than nationally because of Norwegian and Swedish settlement.

#13

Clark english

2,600

1 in 400

Clark comes from clerk, originally a literate or clerical worker. In Montana the name arrived early with military, trading, and government networks, then spread through ordinary migration as new counties and towns formed.

#14

Taylor english

2,533

1 in 410

Taylor comes from Old French 'tailleur', a cutter of cloth. Montana's rank reflects how quickly common trade surnames spread in boomtown economies, where merchants and craftspeople followed miners and railroad crews.

#15

Martin french

2,482

1 in 419

Martin comes from the Latin Martinus. In Montana the name sits at the crossroads of several traditions, including French Canadian and broader American migration streams that reached the state through fur trade, mining, and farming routes.

#16

Wilson english

2,369

1 in 439

Wilson means 'son of Will.' Like Thompson and Davis, it is a durable surname from the English-speaking migration that populated Montana from the gold-rush era through the railroad and homesteading decades.

#17

Larson scandinavian

1,950

1 in 533

Larson means 'son of Lars.' Its place in Montana's top 20 shows how strongly Scandinavian naming patterns survived on the northern plains, especially in wheat country opened by railroads and homestead law.

#18

Hanson scandinavian

1,868

1 in 557

Hanson means 'son of Hans.' Montana ranks it unusually high because many settlers who entered the state during the early twentieth-century farm boom came from Scandinavian communities where Hans was a standard given name.

#19

White english

1,853

1 in 561

White began as a nickname for someone with fair hair or a light complexion. In Montana it is one of the broad national surnames that spread through nearly every kind of settlement, from mining camps to irrigation and wheat districts.

#20

Thomas welsh

1,819

1 in 572

Thomas comes from the Aramaic word for 'twin.' Its Montana rank reflects the state's deep ties to migrants from older American and British communities who arrived first for minerals and livestock, then stayed as towns and farms stabilized.

Local Insight

Uniquely Montana

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

Lozeau french

Ranked #760 in Montana versus #158810 nationally. That is 158050 spots higher here.

Lozeau is a French Canadian surname strongly tied to Montana's early western frontier. Montana History Portal notes that Adolph and Louise Lozeau built a trading post on the Mullan Road in the mid-1860s, and a Mineral County community later carried their name.

Berthelote french

Ranked #882 in Montana versus #262771 nationally. That is 261889 spots higher here.

Berthelote is a rare French surname that appears in Montana far more than national rank alone would suggest. Its survival fits the long French Canadian and borderland presence that entered Montana through the fur trade, river traffic, and later northern-plains settlement.

Berges french

Ranked #228 in Montana versus #17139 nationally. That is 16911 spots higher here.

Berges is unusually visible in Montana for a surname of French and Pyrenean origin. That pattern fits the sheep and mining economies, both of which drew workers from southern France, Spain, and nearby Basque country into the Inland West.

Hardisty english

Ranked #228 in Montana versus #15764 nationally. That is 15536 spots higher here.

Hardisty is a Yorkshire habitational surname that overperforms in Montana. Its rank suggests how many smaller British-origin family names took root in stock-growing and rail-linked communities instead of being submerged by larger national surnames.

Aspling scandinavian

Ranked #882 in Montana versus #232921 nationally. That is 232039 spots higher here.

Aspling is a rare Scandinavian surname, and Montana is one of the few places where it appears at all in public surname rankings. That makes it a small but vivid trace of the same Scandinavian homestead migration that pushed Johnson, Olson, Larson, and Hanson so high statewide.

Etymology

Montana Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Four of Montana's top 20 are straightforward work names: Smith, Miller, Clark, and Taylor. That is a good fit for a state built by mining camps, railroad towns, and farm service centers, where trade surnames spread early and never disappeared.

Smith (metalworker) Miller (grain miller) Clark (clerical worker) Taylor (tailor)

Patronymic Names

Patronymics dominate Montana's list. Johnson, Anderson, Williams, Nelson, Jones, Peterson, Davis, Thompson, Olson, Wilson, Larson, Hanson, and Thomas all descend from a father's given name, and the Scandinavian share is especially strong because the 1909 homestead boom drew many Nordic families onto the northern plains.

Johnson (son of John) Anderson (son of Anders) Peterson (son of Peter) Olson (son of Ole)

Place-Based Borderland Names

Montana's most distinctive surnames often sit below the top 20 and point to older borderland histories rather than mass national trends. French Canadian and mountain-route names such as Lozeau, Berthelote, and Berges preserve traces of trading-post, mining, and sheep-country migrations that were highly local.

Lozeau (French Canadian family name) Berthelote (French family name) Berges (Pyrenean or French place-based surname)

Quick Answers

What is the most common last name in Montana?

Johnson is the most common last name in Montana in this dataset, with Smith second and Anderson third. That ranking is unusual because many states put Smith first, but Montana's strong Scandinavian settlement pushed Johnson and Anderson higher than you might expect.

What are the most common last names in Montana?

The most common last names in Montana are Johnson, Smith, Anderson, Miller, and Brown. The full top 20 also includes several Scandinavian patronymics such as Nelson, Peterson, Olson, Larson, and Hanson.

Why are Scandinavian last names so common in Montana?

They are so common because Montana's northern plains were heavily settled during the railroad and homesteading era, especially after the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. Many of those settlers came from Scandinavian communities in the Upper Midwest or directly from Europe, which lifted surnames like Johnson, Anderson, Nelson, Peterson, Olson, and Larson well above their national standing.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Montana — Primary source for statewide surname rankings, counts, frequencies, and national rank comparisons
State of Montana - Brief History — Overview of Montana settlement history, including the gold rushes, railroads, open-range era, and the Enlarged Homestead Act boom
Montana Historical Society - Homesteading Life in Montana 1900-1920 — Montana Historical Society teaching resource on the rail-driven homestead boom and the settlement of towns across the Hi-Line and plains
Montana History Portal - Lozeau — Montana place-name entry on the Lozeau trading post and the later Mineral County community named for the family

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Johnson
People named #1: 7,706
1 in every: 135 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 989,415
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Last Names in Montana

Homesteaders, Copper Camps, and the Hi-Line

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Montana

Uniquely Montana