Most Common Last Names in Texas

Top 3 — Texas

#2 spanish

Garcia

Patronymic

240,333 people

1 in every 121 Texas residents

A Spanish surname often traced to a medieval personal name of Basque origin. Garcia ranks almost even with Smith in Texas because the name belongs both to old Tejano families and to later Mexican American communities across San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley.

#1 english

Smith

Occupational

240,599 people

1 in every 121 Texas residents

From Old English 'smið', a metalworker or blacksmith. In Texas, Smith became the top surname because it arrived through many routes at once: southern farm migration, frontier settlement, military service, urban growth, and Black communities formed before and after emancipation.

#3 spanish

Rodriguez

Patronymic

210,765 people

1 in every 138 Texas residents

Son of Rodrigo, from a Germanic name meaning famous ruler. Rodriguez is one of the clearest signs of Texas's Spanish-language surname layer, with strong roots in border counties and broad reach in the state's largest metro areas.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Anglo Texas, Tejano Texas, and Borderland Family Names

Texas surnames preserve a borderland history older than statehood. Spanish colonial settlement in San Antonio, Nacogdoches, and the lower Rio Grande left Garcia, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Gonzalez, Lopez, Garza, and Perez high in the statewide list. Anglo-American migration from the South and Midwest added Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown, Miller, Moore, Wilson, Taylor, and Thomas, while later urban growth in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin kept both traditions visible in the same ranking.

Did you know? Garza is the most distinctively Texas surname in the state's top 20: more than seven in ten U.S. bearers in this dataset live in Texas, a pattern tied especially to South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Texas

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Smith english

240,599

1 in 121

Garcia spanish

240,333

1 in 121

Rodriguez spanish

210,765

1 in 138

Johnson english

189,647

1 in 153

Son of John, from Hebrew 'Yohanan', meaning God is gracious. Johnson spread through Texas with settlers from the Upper South and with Black families whose surnames became fixed in records after emancipation in 1865.

Williams english

186,936

1 in 155

Son of William, from the Germanic name Willahelm. Williams is common across East Texas and the Blackland Prairie because it traveled with southern migrants and became deeply rooted in Black Texan communities after the Civil War.

Hernandez spanish

182,233

1 in 159

Son of Hernando or Fernando, from a Germanic name meaning bold traveler or brave in peace. Hernandez ranks high in Texas because it is common across Mexico and long established in Texas cities and border communities.

Jones welsh

159,612

1 in 182

A Welsh form meaning son of John. Jones moved into Texas with Anglo-American families from Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama, making it one of the strongest Southern surnames in the state.

Brown english

146,334

1 in 198

From Old English 'brun', describing brown hair, clothing, or complexion. Brown is common statewide because it belongs to both older English naming traditions and Black family histories across East Texas, Houston, Dallas, and the coastal plain.

Gonzalez spanish

145,970

1 in 199

Son of Gonzalo, from a Germanic personal name often linked with battle. Gonzalez reflects the same Spanish-language naming system that lifted Garcia, Rodriguez, and Hernandez into Texas's top tier.

#10

Lopez spanish

136,209

1 in 213

Son of Lope, from Latin 'lupus', meaning wolf. Lopez is a major Texas surname because it connects colonial Spanish naming, Mexican migration, and the modern growth of Latino communities in nearly every large Texas county.

#11

Garza spanish

121,317

1 in 239

Spanish for heron. Garza is unusually Texan for a top surname, concentrated in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley where old ranching families and cross-border kin networks kept the name highly localized.

#12

Perez spanish

115,484

1 in 251

Son of Pedro, the Spanish form of Peter, from Greek 'petros', meaning rock. Perez is common across Texas because it is one of the major Spanish patronymics shared by Mexican, Tejano, Caribbean, and Central American communities.

#13

Ramirez spanish

106,795

1 in 272

Son of Ramiro, from a Germanic name often interpreted as famous counsel. Ramirez is especially visible in Texas because it is widespread in northern Mexico and followed long-standing migration routes into the state's border and urban counties.

#14

Jackson english

91,333

1 in 318

Son of Jack, a medieval diminutive of John. Jackson entered Texas through Southern migration and also became common in Black communities after emancipation, giving it a wide footprint from East Texas to the major cities.

#15

Miller english

89,868

1 in 323

An occupational surname for someone who operated a grain mill. In Texas, Miller combines broad English use with German immigrant lines, especially in the Hill Country and central Texas settlements founded in the 1840s.

#16

Moore english

89,054

1 in 326

From Old English 'mor', a moor, marsh, or open uncultivated ground. Moore arrived with Anglo-American settlers and remained common because it spread across rural counties, port cities, oil towns, and suburbs rather than belonging to one narrow region.

#17

Wilson english

87,568

1 in 331

Son of Will, a short form of William. Wilson is part of the Scots-Irish and English surname stock that came into Texas through the same southern migration streams that carried Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Brown.

#18

Taylor english

87,224

1 in 333

From Old French 'tailleur', a cutter of cloth. Taylor is common in Texas because English occupational surnames traveled easily with frontier families, town merchants, soldiers, and later arrivals to the state's growing cities.

#19

Thomas english

81,329

1 in 357

From the Aramaic name 'Toma', meaning twin. Thomas belongs to the older British surname base of Texas and appears across both white and Black family histories, especially in counties shaped by Southern migration.

#20

Gonzales spanish

80,882

1 in 359

A spelling variant of Gonzalez, meaning son of Gonzalo. Gonzales ranks separately in the data, which shows how spelling choices can split a single Spanish surname tradition into two high-ranking Texas entries.

Local Insight

Uniquely Texas

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

Garza spanish

Ranked #11 in Texas versus #219 nationally. That is 208 spots higher here.

Garza is Texas's clearest top-20 signature surname. Forebears places more than 70 percent of U.S. Garza bearers in Texas, a concentration tied to South Texas families, old ranching communities, and the Rio Grande Valley's long Tejano history.

Trevino spanish

Ranked #50 in Texas versus #656 nationally. That is 606 spots higher here.

Trevino, often written Treviño in Spanish, is strongly associated with northern Mexico and South Texas. Its high Texas rank reflects borderland family networks in places such as Laredo, the lower Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi.

Salinas spanish

Ranked #53 in Texas versus #509 nationally. That is 456 spots higher here.

Salinas is a Spanish place-name surname connected with saltworks or salty lands. In Texas it is much more visible than its national rank suggests because it clusters in South Texas and along routes linking the Rio Grande Valley with the state's largest cities.

Cantu spanish

Ranked #66 in Texas versus #797 nationally. That is 731 spots higher here.

Cantu, commonly Cantú in Spanish, is one of the most Texas-weighted surnames in the top 100. Its concentration points to deep South Texas roots and to family networks that cross the modern U.S.-Mexico border.

Hinojosa spanish

Ranked #167 in Texas versus #1525 nationally. That is 1358 spots higher here.

Hinojosa is rare nationally but familiar in South Texas. The surname's Texas footprint reflects the region's older Spanish and Mexican land-grant society, where a relatively small set of families could leave a lasting county-level name pattern.

Etymology

Texas Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Occupational Names

Smith, Miller, and Taylor show the strength of English occupational surnames in Texas. Their meanings come from trades, but their Texas spread came through settlement, farming, town-building, and later urban growth rather than a single craft community.

Smith (metalworker) Miller (grain miller) Taylor (tailor)

Patronymic Names

Patronymics dominate the Texas top 20 in both English and Spanish forms. Johnson, Williams, Jones, Wilson, and Thomas come from British naming traditions, while Garcia, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Gonzalez, Lopez, Perez, Ramirez, and Gonzales show the depth of Spanish-language family naming.

Johnson (son of John) Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo) Williams (son of William) Hernandez (son of Hernando)

Borderland Spanish Names

Texas's most distinctive surname layer is Spanish and Tejano. Garza, Trevino, Salinas, Cantu, and Hinojosa rank far higher in Texas than they do nationally because South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley preserved family names from colonial settlement, ranching society, and continuing cross-border migration.

Garza (heron) Trevino (place-name surname) Cantu (Spanish surname, often Cantú)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Texas?

The most common last names in Texas are Smith, Garcia, Rodriguez, Johnson, and Williams in the Forebears surname table used for this page. Smith and Garcia are nearly tied, which makes Texas one of the clearest examples of English and Spanish surname traditions meeting at the top of a state ranking.

Why are Spanish last names so common in Texas?

Spanish last names are common in Texas because Spanish-speaking communities were present before statehood and remained central to the state's population after Texas became part of the United States in 1845. Tejano families, Mexican migration, and large Latino populations in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley keep names such as Garcia, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Gonzalez, Lopez, Garza, Perez, and Ramirez high in the ranking.

Sources

Forebears: Most Common Surnames in Texas — Primary source for Texas surname incidence, frequency ratios, state ranks, and national-rank comparisons
U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames — National 2010 surname baseline used to contextualize common surnames and broad origin patterns
Texas State Historical Association: Handbook of Texas — Historical background on Spanish colonial Texas, Tejano communities, German settlement, and Anglo-American migration

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Smith
People named #1: 240,599
1 in every: 121 residents
Top origin: English
State population: 25,145,561
Census year: 2010

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Most Common Last Names in Texas

Anglo Texas, Tejano Texas, and Borderland Family Names

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Texas

Uniquely Texas