Most Common Surnames in New Jersey

Top 3 — New Jersey

#2 welsh

Williams

Patronymic

31,895 people

1 in every 282 New Jersey residents

Son of William, from the Germanic personal name Willahelm. Williams remains near the top in New Jersey because it belongs to both the older English Atlantic seaboard surname layer and later Black American communities in cities such as Newark, Trenton, and Camden.

#1 indian

Patel

Occupational

33,399 people

1 in every 269 New Jersey residents

From Gujarati, originally a title for a village headman or landholder. Patel ranks first in New Jersey because the state built one of the country's largest Indian American populations, with especially strong concentrations in Middlesex, Bergen, and Somerset counties.

#3 english

Brown

Descriptive

30,473 people

1 in every 295 New Jersey residents

Originally a nickname for someone with brown hair, clothing, or complexion, from Old English 'brun'. Brown is one of the durable broad-base surnames that stayed common through every phase of New Jersey history, from colonial farms to industrial cities and postwar suburbs.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Dutch Rivers, Ellis Island, and Edison

New Jersey's surname map reflects three big layers of settlement. The oldest runs back to Dutch and English colonists along the Hudson, Passaic, and Raritan rivers; the second came through the industrial age, when Italians, Jews, Poles, and other southern and eastern Europeans entered through Ellis Island and settled in North Jersey mill and port cities; the third is modern, with Puerto Rican migration expanding after World War II and Asian Indian, Korean, and other Asian communities growing sharply after 1970, especially in Middlesex and Bergen counties.

Did you know? New Jersey is unusual enough that Smith does not make the top 20 here at all. Patel ranks first statewide, and Shah also lands in the top 30, a strong sign of how large the state's Indian American population had become by 2010.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in New Jersey

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Patel indian

33,399

1 in 269

Williams welsh

31,895

1 in 282

Brown english

30,473

1 in 295

Johnson english

28,944

1 in 310

Son of John, from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning God is gracious. Johnson has deep roots in early English America and remained widely shared across New Jersey's white and Black populations, which helps keep it near the top statewide.

Rodriguez spanish

27,691

1 in 325

Son of Rodrigo, a Germanic personal name usually interpreted as famous ruler. Rodriguez ranks high because New Jersey's large Hispanic population grew rapidly in the late 20th century, especially in Hudson, Passaic, Essex, Union, and Middlesex counties.

Lee english

23,184

1 in 388

In English, Lee comes from Old English 'leah', a clearing or meadow, though in New Jersey it also carries major Chinese and Korean surname lines. That overlap helps explain why a short surname with several origins ranks so high in one of the country's most diverse states.

Jones welsh

22,755

1 in 395

A Welsh form meaning son of John. Jones came early into the Mid-Atlantic through British settlement and stayed widespread enough across every region of New Jersey to remain a top 10 surname.

Miller english

21,548

1 in 417

An occupational surname for a grain miller. Miller fits a state that moved from colonial agriculture into early industry, with water-powered places such as Paterson making milling and manufacturing surnames familiar across New Jersey.

Davis welsh

19,799

1 in 454

Son of David, from the Hebrew name Dawid, meaning beloved. Davis has the same broad American reach as Johnson and Williams, which is why it remained common as New Jersey layered new immigrant populations onto its older British surname base.

#10

Rivera spanish

18,604

1 in 483

A place-based Spanish surname meaning riverbank or streamside. Rivera's prominence in New Jersey tracks the state's large Puerto Rican population, which was the biggest Hispanic origin group in the state in 2010.

#11

Gonzalez spanish

17,820

1 in 504

Son of Gonzalo, from a medieval Iberian personal name. Gonzalez rose with the broad expansion of Latino communities in North and Central Jersey, especially after 1980.

#12

Perez spanish

17,077

1 in 526

Son of Pedro, the Spanish form of Peter. Perez is common in New Jersey for the same reason Rivera and Rodriguez are: the state became a major destination for Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, and other Latin American families.

#13

Garcia spanish

15,729

1 in 571

A classic Iberian surname, often traced to an old personal name of Basque origin. Garcia's high rank reflects the depth and geographic spread of New Jersey's Hispanic population far beyond a single city or county.

#14

Martinez spanish

15,638

1 in 575

Son of Martin, from the Latin Martinus. Martinez is especially characteristic of states where Latino migration has reshaped the top surname ranks, and New Jersey is one of them.

#15

Lopez spanish

15,305

1 in 587

Son of Lope, from the Latin lupus, wolf. Lopez became highly visible in New Jersey as Hispanic communities spread through older industrial cities and into suburban counties as well.

#16

Kim korean

14,268

1 in 630

From the Korean surname Gim or Kim, traditionally associated with the character for gold. Kim ranks this high because New Jersey built one of the country's largest Korean American populations, with Bergen County standing out as the state's main center.

#17

Wilson english

14,157

1 in 635

Son of Will, a short form of William. Wilson is part of the older British surname stock that remained common even as newer immigrant names transformed the rest of the New Jersey list.

#18

Torres spanish

13,680

1 in 657

A Spanish place-name surname referring to someone who lived near a tower. Torres rose statewide with the same Puerto Rican and wider Latino growth that pushed Rivera, Rodriguez, and Lopez high into New Jersey's top tier.

#19

Hernandez spanish

13,234

1 in 679

Son of Hernando or Fernando, from the Germanic name Ferdinand. Hernandez is another sign that New Jersey's surname profile is no longer dominated by English names alone.

#20

Jackson english

13,188

1 in 681

Son of Jack, a medieval form of John. Jackson has long been common in African American communities and remains strong in New Jersey's older cities, which keeps it in the statewide top 20.

Local Insight

Uniquely New Jersey

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

Patel indian

Ranked #1 in New Jersey versus #123 nationally. That is 122 spots higher here.

Patel is the clearest New Jersey outlier: it ranks first statewide while sitting far lower nationally. That pattern matches New Jersey's exceptionally large Asian Indian population, which reached 292,256 in 2010 and clustered heavily in Middlesex, Bergen, and Somerset counties.

Shah indian

Ranked #28 in New Jersey versus #516 nationally. That is 488 spots higher here.

Shah is far more visible in New Jersey than in the United States as a whole. Its rise follows the same post-1970 South Asian growth that made Edison and nearby Middlesex County central hubs of Indian American life.

Kim korean

Ranked #16 in New Jersey versus #91 nationally. That is 75 spots higher here.

Kim ranks unusually high because New Jersey has one of the nation's largest Korean American populations. Bergen County alone held more than 60 percent of the state's Korean population in 2010, giving the surname an especially strong North Jersey footprint.

Cohen hebrew

Ranked #37 in New Jersey versus #247 nationally. That is 210 spots higher here.

Cohen is more common in New Jersey than nationally because the state developed both urban Jewish communities in the north and Jewish agricultural colonies in the south. Settlements such as Alliance and Woodbine helped make Jewish surnames part of New Jersey's long-term local history, not just its big-city story.

Santiago spanish

Ranked #51 in New Jersey versus #362 nationally. That is 311 spots higher here.

Santiago stands out because Puerto Ricans were New Jersey's largest Hispanic origin group in 2010. The surname is tied especially to the state's long Puerto Rican presence in cities such as Newark, Camden, Jersey City, and Perth Amboy.

Etymology

New Jersey Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Patronymic Names

Patronymics dominate New Jersey's top surnames. Williams, Johnson, Rodriguez, Jones, Davis, Gonzalez, Perez, Garcia, Martinez, Lopez, Wilson, Hernandez, and Jackson all descend from personal names, which shows how many of the state's strongest surname traditions came through British and Spanish naming systems.

Williams (son of William) Johnson (son of John) Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo) Martinez (son of Martin)

Spanish and Caribbean Names

Nine of New Jersey's top 20 surnames are clearly Spanish-language names: Rodriguez, Rivera, Gonzalez, Perez, Garcia, Martinez, Lopez, Torres, and Hernandez. That concentration reflects how strongly Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, Mexican, and other Latino communities reshaped the state from the late 20th century onward.

Rivera (riverbank) Perez (son of Pedro) Torres (near a tower) Hernandez (son of Hernando)

South and East Asian Names

Patel, Lee, and Kim give New Jersey a surname profile that looks more like a global gateway than a typical East Coast state. By 2010, Asian Indians were the state's largest Asian group, while Bergen County had become one of the country's best-known Korean American centers.

Patel (village headman or landholder) Lee (clearing; also several East Asian surname traditions) Kim (gold)

Quick Answers

Why is Patel the most common last name in New Jersey?

Patel is the most common last name in New Jersey because the state built one of the largest Indian American populations in the United States, especially in Middlesex, Bergen, and Somerset counties. By 2010, Asian Indians were New Jersey's largest Asian group, large enough to push Patel above long-dominant Anglo-American names.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in New Jersey — Primary source for New Jersey surname counts, frequency ratios, state ranks, and national rank comparisons
U.S. Census Bureau - QuickFacts: New Jersey — 2010 New Jersey population used for statewide demographic context
NJ.gov - A Short History of New Jersey — Official state history source for Dutch settlement, industrial immigration, Ellis Island, and later Puerto Rican and Asian community growth
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development - New Jersey's Asian Population by Asian Group: 2010 — State labor and census summary used for Asian Indian and Korean population context
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development - Persons of Hispanic Origin: 2010 Census — State labor and census summary used for Puerto Rican and broader Hispanic population context
Rutgers University - The History of Jewish Farming in New Jersey — Background source on Jewish settlement patterns in New Jersey, especially the state's agricultural colonies

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Patel
People named #1: 33,399
1 in every: 269 residents
Top origin: Spanish
State population: 8,791,894
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Surnames in New Jersey

Dutch Rivers, Ellis Island, and Edison

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in New Jersey

Uniquely New Jersey