Most Common Last Names in Nevada

Top 3 — Nevada

#2 english

Smith

Occupational

25,538 people

1 in every 218 Nevada residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker. Smith spread through Nevada's silver and gold districts in the nineteenth century, then stayed common as Reno and Las Vegas absorbed new migrants in the twentieth.

#1 english

Johnson

Patronymic

30,843 people

1 in every 180 Nevada residents

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan', God is gracious. Johnson reached the top in Nevada because the state grew late and fast, pulling in Anglo families from California, Utah, and the Midwest during the railroad, dam, military, and casino eras rather than from one early colonial settlement core.

#3 english

Brown

Descriptive

24,925 people

1 in every 223 Nevada residents

From Old English 'brún', a nickname for brown hair or complexion. Brown is common in Nevada for the same reason Johnson is: it arrived repeatedly with mobile American populations tied to mining, railroads, the Hoover Dam era, and postwar Sunbelt growth.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Mining Camps, Basque Sheep Country, and a Clark County Boom

Nevada's first big surname layer came from mining camps and rail towns: the Comstock, Reno after the railroad reached it in 1868, and Las Vegas after the rail stop became a town in 1905. Northern ranching counties added a Basque layer strong enough that the University of Nevada, Reno now hosts the leading Basque library outside the Basque Country. The modern ranking is mostly a Clark County story, because the county had 1,951,269 of Nevada's 2,700,551 residents in 2010 and a 32.8 percent Hispanic population, pushing Garcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Lopez, Gonzalez, and Ramirez high into the statewide top 20.

Did you know? Seven of Nevada's top 20 surnames are Spanish: Garcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Lopez, Gonzalez, and Ramirez.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Nevada

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Johnson english

30,843

1 in 180

Smith english

25,538

1 in 218

Brown english

24,925

1 in 223

Williams english

23,464

1 in 237

Son of William, from Norman 'Willahelm', will plus helm. Williams settled into Nevada through railroad employment, military service, and the large inward migration that turned Las Vegas and Reno into modern metro areas.

Jones welsh

22,373

1 in 249

The classic Welsh surname, son of John via 'Ioan'. Jones appears heavily in Nevada's mining and ranching record because Welsh and English families moved easily through the wider Intermountain West, especially between Utah, Idaho, California, and Nevada.

Miller english

21,355

1 in 260

From Middle English 'miller', one who ran a grain mill. In Nevada the name reads less as a sign of local milling than of broad American migration into railroad towns, military installations, and the Las Vegas valley.

Garcia spanish

19,978

1 in 278

A Spanish surname of likely Basque origin, long used as a patronymic and family name across Iberia and Mexico. Garcia ranks seventh in Nevada because southern Nevada's growth pulled in large Mexican American and broader Hispanic populations, especially in Clark County.

Davis welsh

19,531

1 in 285

Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid', beloved. Davis moved into Nevada through the same western corridors that fed miners, ranchers, railroad men, and later defense and tourism workers into the state.

Anderson scottish

18,189

1 in 306

Son of Anders or Andrew, from Greek 'Andreas'. Anderson reflects the Scandinavian and British stock that moved through Utah and the Great Basin into Nevada's ranching districts and railroad communities.

#10

Martinez spanish

16,171

1 in 344

Son of Martin, from Latin 'Martinus', of Mars. Martinez stands much higher in Nevada than in the national list because Las Vegas and nearby suburbs became major destinations for Hispanic workers and families in the late twentieth century.

#11

Rodriguez spanish

15,748

1 in 353

Son of Rodrigo, from a Germanic personal name meaning famous ruler. Rodriguez rose with the same southern Nevada demographic shift that lifted Garcia and Martinez, especially in a county where one metro area dominates the state.

#12

Wilson english

15,457

1 in 360

Son of Will, a short form of William. Wilson appears in nineteenth-century western migration streams and remained common as Nevada filled out with transplants rather than long-settled local lineages.

#13

Hernandez spanish

15,419

1 in 361

Son of Hernando or Fernando, from a Germanic name often glossed as bold journey. Hernandez ranks far above its national position in Nevada, a sign of how strongly Clark County's Hispanic population shapes statewide surname totals.

#14

Lopez spanish

15,213

1 in 366

Son of Lope, from Latin 'lupus', wolf. Lopez is one more surname pushed upward by southern Nevada's labor and family migration, especially after Las Vegas became the overwhelming population center of the state.

#15

Martin french

14,801

1 in 376

From Latin 'Martinus', of Mars. Martin in Nevada has multiple routes in, appearing among Anglo migrants, French and Basque circles in the north, and Hispanic families in the south, which helps keep it high statewide.

#16

Gonzalez spanish

13,687

1 in 406

Son of Gonzalo, from a medieval Iberian name of Germanic origin. Gonzalez sits notably higher in Nevada than nationally because the state's surname map is pulled south toward Las Vegas rather than balanced by many mid-sized counties.

#17

Taylor english

12,931

1 in 430

From Old French 'tailleur', one who cuts cloth. Taylor followed miners, railroad workers, and later suburban migrants into both Washoe County and Clark County, making it a classic Nevada transplant surname.

#18

White english

12,250

1 in 454

From Old English 'hwit', a nickname for fair hair or complexion. White remains common in Nevada because the state drew large numbers of Anglo migrants during every major growth phase from the Comstock to the post-1945 resort boom.

#19

Clark english

12,175

1 in 457

From Old English 'clerc', a clerk or literate scribe. Clark is nationally common, but in Nevada the name carries extra local visibility because Clark County, home to Las Vegas and most of the state's population, dominates almost every statewide demographic pattern.

#20

Ramirez spanish

11,852

1 in 469

Son of Ramiro, from a Germanic personal name often interpreted as wise or famous counsel. Ramirez ranks twentieth in Nevada but only fifty-second nationally, one of the clearest signs that Hispanic surnames punch above their U.S. average in the state.

Local Insight

Uniquely Nevada

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

Ramirez spanish

Ranked #20 in Nevada versus #52 nationally. That is 32 spots higher here.

Ramirez is far more visible in Nevada than in the country as a whole. That jump tracks the rise of Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County, where Hispanic families became a central part of the region's construction, service, and hospitality workforce.

Gonzalez spanish

Ranked #16 in Nevada versus #29 nationally. That is 13 spots higher here.

Gonzalez sits in Nevada's top 20 because the state is unusually concentrated in one southern metro. When Clark County carries most of the population, surnames common in Mexican American and Latino communities rise faster statewide than they do in states with more balanced settlement.

Lopez spanish

Ranked #14 in Nevada versus #24 nationally. That is 10 spots higher here.

Lopez ranks ten places higher in Nevada than nationally. That pattern fits the demographic weight of Las Vegas, where Hispanic settlement expanded rapidly in the late twentieth century and reshaped the statewide surname list.

Hernandez spanish

Ranked #13 in Nevada versus #23 nationally. That is 10 spots higher here.

Hernandez is another surname that runs high in Nevada because the state is pulled toward Clark County's population profile. By 2010, the county's Hispanic share was large enough to move several Spanish patronymics well above their national ranks.

Martinez spanish

Ranked #10 in Nevada versus #19 nationally. That is 9 spots higher here.

Martinez breaks into Nevada's top 10, well ahead of its national standing. The state's modern growth happened mostly in southern Nevada, so surname patterns linked to Hispanic family migration show up more strongly here than in many interior Western states.

Etymology

Nevada Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Nevada's occupational surnames, especially Smith, Miller, Taylor, and Clark, fit a state built by work camps, mines, railroads, and fast-growing service cities. Unlike older Atlantic states, Nevada did not spread these names from a colonial core; it kept importing them in new waves.

Smith (metalworker) Miller (grain miller) Taylor (tailor) Clark (cleric or clerk)

English Patronymics

Johnson, Williams, Jones, Davis, Anderson, and Wilson show how strongly Nevada was settled by later Anglo migration from elsewhere in the United States and the wider Great Basin. These names dominate the top of the list even though Nevada's biggest population surge came long after statehood in 1864.

Johnson (son of John) Williams (son of William) Jones (son of John) Anderson (son of Anders)

Spanish Patronymics

Spanish surnames are the clearest modern pattern in Nevada's ranking. Garcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Lopez, Gonzalez, and Ramirez all land in Nevada's top 20 because Clark County's Hispanic population is large enough to reshape the statewide ranking.

Garcia (from Garcia, a medieval Iberian personal name) Martinez (son of Martin) Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo) Ramirez (son of Ramiro)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Nevada?

The most common last names in Nevada are Johnson, Smith, Brown, Williams, and Jones. Miller, Garcia, Davis, Anderson, and Martinez also rank near the top.

Why are Spanish last names so common in Nevada?

Spanish last names rank high in Nevada because the state's population is heavily concentrated in Clark County, where the Hispanic share was 32.8 percent in 2010. That is why Garcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Lopez, Gonzalez, and Ramirez all place unusually high statewide.

Why are Basque surnames associated with northern Nevada?

Basque surnames are tied to northern Nevada because Basque immigrants became closely linked to the sheep industry in the Great Basin. Their communities lasted long enough to shape restaurant culture, local memory, and even the Basque research collections at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau - Frequently Occurring Surnames — 2010 Census surname rankings used for national comparisons and general surname background
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts - Nevada — Official 2010 Nevada population total
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts - Clark County, Nevada — Official 2010 Clark County population and Hispanic share, central to Nevada's statewide surname pattern
Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Nevada — State-level surname counts, ratios, and Nevada rankings used for the top 20 list
Nevada State Parks - History of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort — Background on Las Vegas before the railroad era and the early southern Nevada settlement story
Nevada Department of Transportation - Rail History — Dates for Reno's railroad-era founding and the arrival of rail in Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Reno - About the Basque Library — Evidence of the depth and institutional legacy of Nevada's Basque diaspora

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Johnson
People named #1: 30,843
1 in every: 180 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 2,700,551
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Last Names in Nevada

Mining Camps, Basque Sheep Country, and a Clark County Boom

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Nevada

Uniquely Nevada