Most Common Last Names in North Carolina

North Carolina

Top 3 Top Surnames Heritage Local Insight Etymology Quick Answers

Top 3 — North Carolina

#2 welsh

Williams

Patronymic

92,275 people

1 in every 115 North Carolina residents

Son of William, from the Germanic personal name 'Willahelm'. In North Carolina, Williams rose through both older British settlement and its wide use among Black families in the coastal plain, the Cape Fear, and later urban counties such as Mecklenburg and Wake.

#1 english

Smith

Occupational

130,234 people

1 in every 81 North Carolina residents

From Old English 'smith', a metalworker or blacksmith. Smith became North Carolina's most common surname because it was carried by early coastal settlers, then reinforced by migration into the Piedmont and mountains, making it common in nearly every region of the state.

#3 english

Johnson

Patronymic

88,407 people

1 in every 120 North Carolina residents

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan', meaning God is gracious. Johnson spread with English and Scots-Irish families moving down the Great Wagon Road into the backcountry, then became equally prominent in eastern counties with long African American settlement.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Coastal Colonists, Wagon Road Families, and Lumbee Strongholds

English families first anchored the Albemarle and lower Cape Fear, while Highland Scots settled the upper Cape Fear around Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, after 1739. From the 1730s through the Revolution, Scot-Irish and German settlers came down the Great Wagon Road into Rowan, Orange, Guilford, and the Yadkin-Catawba country, reinforcing names such as Johnson, Jones, Miller, and Wilson. In Robeson County, Lumbee communities kept surnames such as Locklear, Oxendine, Chavis, Bullard, and Lowery unusually concentrated, giving North Carolina one of the sharpest local surname clusters in the South.

Did you know? Locklear is one of North Carolina's clearest signature surnames. Forebears places it 67th statewide, yet 71 percent of all Locklears in the United States live in North Carolina, and Robeson County alone reports more than 9,200 of them.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in North Carolina

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Smith english

130,234

1 in 81

Williams welsh

92,275

1 in 115

Johnson english

88,407

1 in 120

Jones welsh

86,281

1 in 123

A Welsh form meaning son of John. Jones has deep roots in North Carolina from the colonial coast to the western Piedmont, and its high statewide rank reflects how thoroughly Welsh and border-British naming traditions blended into the colony's early population.

Brown english

70,699

1 in 150

From Old English 'brun', originally describing brown hair, complexion, or clothing. Brown became one of North Carolina's most evenly distributed surnames, appearing strongly in both plantation-era eastern counties and the inland farming belt.

Davis welsh

67,997

1 in 156

Son of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid', meaning beloved. Davis came early into North Carolina through British settlers and remained especially common in the Piedmont and coastal plain, where it appears in county records from the colonial period onward.

Moore english

44,416

1 in 239

From Old English 'mor', meaning moor or open upland. Moore fits North Carolina's geography well, and the name took hold across both the sandy coastal plain and the upland counties settled from Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Miller english

40,683

1 in 260

From Middle English 'miller', a grain-mill operator. The surname grew in North Carolina's mill-heavy Piedmont, where German and Scots-Irish settlers followed creeks and rivers suitable for gristmills in Rowan, Guilford, and Forsyth counties.

Taylor english

40,171

1 in 264

From Old French 'tailleur', a cutter of cloth. Taylor appears in North Carolina's oldest courthouse and land records and spread with both coastal settlers and inland farming families during the eighteenth century.

#10

Wilson english

39,408

1 in 269

Son of Will, a shortened form of William. Wilson was carried south by Great Wagon Road migrants and became especially at home in the Piedmont, where Presbyterian Scots-Irish communities helped preserve English and Scottish patronymics.

#11

Harris english

39,071

1 in 271

Son of Harry, a medieval form of Henry. Harris ranks higher in North Carolina than nationally, which fits the state's long continuity of English colonial families in the east and older farm communities in the Piedmont.

#12

White english

35,103

1 in 302

From Old English 'hwit', originally a descriptive name for someone fair-haired or pale. White appears across North Carolina from the Albemarle to the Blue Ridge, showing how early English surnames stayed durable despite later migration streams.

#13

Thomas welsh

33,599

1 in 315

From Aramaic 'Ta'oma', meaning twin. Thomas entered North Carolina through Welsh and English settlers and stayed common in both the old eastern counties and the inland Piedmont church communities that grew in the mid-1700s.

#14

Thompson english

31,332

1 in 338

Son of Thomas, with the inserted 'p' reflecting later English spelling. Thompson followed Scots-Irish and English families into the backcountry, especially along the Yadkin and Catawba corridors that opened during eighteenth-century settlement.

#15

Jackson english

29,955

1 in 354

Son of Jack, a medieval form of John. Jackson became common in North Carolina through older British settlement and later African American surname patterns, and the name is visible from the eastern counties to the western mountain county that bears it.

#16

Edwards english

29,761

1 in 356

Son of Edward, from Old English elements meaning wealth and guard. Edwards ranks strikingly high in North Carolina, especially compared with its national standing, suggesting the persistence of older English family lines in both the coastal plain and south-central Piedmont.

#17

Parker english

29,162

1 in 363

Originally a keeper of a park or enclosed hunting ground, from Old French 'parchier'. In North Carolina the name became detached from its aristocratic origin and spread widely through rural counties settled from Virginia and the coastal plain.

#18

Hall english

29,147

1 in 363

From Old English 'heall', someone who lived or worked at a hall or manor. Hall is common across the state, but it has special strength in the western half of North Carolina, where long-settled Appalachian and foothill families kept older British surnames locally dense.

#19

Martin latin

28,751

1 in 368

From Latin 'Martinus', meaning of Mars. Martin entered North Carolina through English, Welsh, and some French Protestant lines, and it remained durable in both the coast and the Piedmont as families spread south from Virginia.

#20

Allen celtic

28,496

1 in 372

From the personal name Alan or Allen, likely from a Breton and wider Celtic root. Allen is common in North Carolina's Piedmont counties settled by Great Wagon Road migrants, then remains visible in eastern counties with much older colonial records.

Local Insight

Uniquely North Carolina

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

Locklear english

Ranked #67 in North Carolina versus #2377 nationally. That is 2310 spots higher here.

Likely a variant of Lockyer, an English occupational surname for a locksmith. In North Carolina it is inseparable from Lumbee history in Robeson County, where Pembroke, Saddletree, and surrounding communities turned Locklear into a true state-signature name. Robeson County alone lists more than 9,200 Locklears, and Forebears says 71 percent of all U.S. bearers live in North Carolina.

Oxendine english

Ranked #317 in North Carolina versus #5795 nationally. That is 5478 spots higher here.

Oxendine is usually linked to British place-name forms such as Oxenden or Oxendean. In North Carolina it is another classic Lumbee surname centered on Robeson County communities near Pembroke and Bear Swamp. The name ranks only 5,795th nationally but 317th in North Carolina, and Forebears reports that 61 percent of U.S. Oxendines live in the state.

Chavis other

Ranked #244 in North Carolina versus #2717 nationally. That is 2473 spots higher here.

Chavis is one of the traditional surnames associated with Lumbee families in southeastern North Carolina. Robeson County ranks it fifth locally, with more than 2,200 bearers in Forebears' county table, which helps explain why it sits far higher in North Carolina than in the national list. The name also appears in nineteenth-century North Carolina records involving Lumbee people under the spelling Chavers.

Bullard english

Ranked #334 in North Carolina versus #1413 nationally. That is 1079 spots higher here.

Bullard is an English occupational surname meaning a bull-herd. In North Carolina it has a strong Robeson County and Lumbee association, where it ranks ninth locally and sits much higher than it does in the nation as a whole. That concentration makes Bullard feel far more southeastern North Carolina than generically American.

Lowery scottish

Ranked #246 in North Carolina versus #785 nationally. That is 539 spots higher here.

Lowery is a Scottish surname related to Lowrie or Laurie. In North Carolina it connects both to the Lumbee community and to the Lowry family made famous by Henry Berry Lowry during Reconstruction in Robeson County. Even though the surname is nationally broader than Locklear or Oxendine, its historical weight in southeastern North Carolina gives it a distinct state identity.

Etymology

North Carolina Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Four of North Carolina's top 20 surnames are occupational: Smith, Miller, Taylor, and Parker. That mix reflects a state settled early by English speakers and then reinforced by mill-centered Piedmont communities, where trade names stayed common long after their literal job meanings faded.

Smith (metalworker) Miller (mill operator) Taylor (tailor) Parker (park keeper)

Patronymic Names

Patronymics dominate North Carolina's top 20, including Williams, Johnson, Jones, Davis, Wilson, Thomas, Thompson, Jackson, Edwards, Martin, and Allen. That heavy share matches the state's settlement history, since English, Welsh, and Scots-Irish migrants brought father-name surnames through both the coastal colonies and the Great Wagon Road.

Williams (son of William) Johnson (son of John) Jones (son of John, Welsh form) Thompson (son of Thomas)

Habitational and Descriptive Names

A smaller but important group comes from landscape terms or nicknames, including Brown, Moore, White, and Hall. These names stayed strong in North Carolina because the colony filled early and grew locally for generations, allowing very old British surname forms to persist from the Albemarle to the mountains.

Brown (brown hair or complexion) Moore (near a moor) White (fair hair or complexion) Hall (dweller at a hall)

Quick Answers

What is the most common last name in North Carolina?

Smith is the most common last name in North Carolina in this 2010-based dataset. Forebears lists 130,234 Smiths in the state, or about 1 in every 81 residents. Williams and Johnson rank second and third.

Why are Locklear and Oxendine so common in North Carolina?

Both surnames are strongly tied to the Lumbee community of Robeson County in southeastern North Carolina. That local concentration is intense enough that Locklear ranks 67th statewide and Oxendine 317th, even though both are far rarer nationally. Robeson County alone lists Locklear first and Oxendine third among all county surnames.

Sources

Forebears — Most Common Surnames in North Carolina — Primary source for North Carolina surname counts, ratios, state ranks, and national rank comparisons used on this page
NCpedia — Settlement of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain — State reference for Great Wagon Road migration, coastal settlement, Highland Scots migration, and regional population history
UNC Pembroke and NCpedia Lumbee History — Used to verify the historic prominence of Lumbee surnames such as Locklear, Oxendine, and Lowry in Robeson County and Pembroke-area communities

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Smith
People named #1: 130,234
1 in every: 81 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 9,535,483
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Last Names in North Carolina

Coastal Colonists, Wagon Road Families, and Lumbee Strongholds

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in North Carolina

Uniquely North Carolina