Most Common Last Names in California (2026)

California Demographics

California has a population of 39,538,223 (2020 Census). The demographic composition helps explain which surnames are most prevalent in the state.

34.7%

39.4%

15.9%

White 34.7% Hispanic 39.4% Black 6.5% Asian/Pacific 15.9% Native American 1.6% Two+ Races 1.9%

Top 200 Most Common Surnames in California

These surnames are estimated to be the most common in California based on national surname frequency data weighted by CA's demographic composition (BISG method).

#	Surname	Origin	Est. Frequency	National Rank
1	Smith	English	89,019	#1
2	Johnson	English	61,640	#2
3	Garcia	Spanish	60,008	#6
4	Rodriguez	Spanish	56,834	#9
5	Martinez	Spanish	54,819	#10
6	Hernandez	Spanish	54,294	#11
7	Miller	English	48,058	#7
8	Brown	English	45,378	#4
9	Lopez	Spanish	45,137	#12
10	Gonzalez	Spanish	43,856	#13
11	Williams	Welsh/English	43,776	#3
12	Jones	Welsh/English	43,352	#5
13	Davis	Welsh/English	37,013	#8
14	Perez	Spanish	35,236	#22
15	Sanchez	Spanish	31,669	#26
16	Anderson	English/Scandinavian	29,885	#15
17	Ramirez	Spanish	28,952	#28
18	Wilson	English	28,212	#14
19	Martin	English/French	27,657	#20
20	Taylor	English	25,827	#17
21	Moore	English/Irish	25,148	#18
22	Thompson	English	23,948	#23
23	White	English	22,699	#24
24	Torres	Spanish/Portuguese	22,557	#37
25	Thomas	Welsh/English	22,536	#16
26	Flores	Spanish	22,269	#40
27	Clark	English	21,343	#27
28	Rivera	Spanish	19,998	#46
29	Lee	English/Chinese/Korean	19,562	#21
30	Gomez	Spanish	18,859	#51
31	Harris	English/Welsh	18,090	#25
32	Diaz	Spanish	17,943	#55
33	Jackson	English	17,475	#19
34	Allen	English/Celtic	16,995	#33
35	Young	English	16,984	#32
36	King	English	16,896	#34
37	Lewis	Welsh/English	16,853	#29
38	Cruz	Spanish/Portuguese	16,715	#57
39	Baker	English	16,691	#44
40	Walker	English	16,629	#31
41	Nelson	English/Scandinavian	16,605	#43
42	Reyes	Spanish	16,424	#60
43	Adams	English	16,134	#42
44	Morales	Spanish	16,117	#63
45	Wright	English	15,832	#35
46	Gutierrez	Spanish	15,171	#67
47	Hall	English	15,088	#45
48	Robinson	English	14,900	#30
49	Ortiz	Spanish/Basque	14,830	#68
50	Hill	English	14,781	#39
51	Roberts	Welsh/English	14,643	#50
52	Campbell	Scottish	14,496	#47
53	Scott	English/Scottish	14,255	#36
54	Phillips	English/Welsh	13,943	#52
55	Green	English	13,430	#41
56	Ramos	Spanish/Portuguese	13,174	#76
57	Chavez	Spanish	12,949	#83
58	Murphy	Irish	12,669	#64
59	Evans	Welsh	12,618	#53
60	Mitchell	English	12,574	#48
61	Ruiz	Spanish	12,323	#89
62	Mendoza	Spanish/Basque	12,264	#88
63	Cook	English	12,247	#65
64	Collins	Irish/English	12,116	#59
65	Alvarez	Spanish	12,060	#92
66	Parker	English	12,009	#56
67	Morris	Welsh/English	11,965	#62
68	Carter	English	11,906	#49
69	Turner	English	11,800	#54
70	Jimenez	Spanish	11,755	#100
71	Castillo	Spanish	11,679	#93
72	Stewart	Scottish/English	11,642	#61
73	Peterson	English/Scandinavian	11,575	#71
74	Rogers	English	11,562	#66
75	Morgan	Welsh	11,035	#69
76	Edwards	English	11,022	#58
77	Vasquez	Spanish	11,014	#113
78	Wood	English	10,838	#84
79	Gonzales	Spanish/Portuguese	10,713	#111
80	Cox	English	10,678	#78
81	Romero	Spanish	10,661	#115
82	Kelly	Irish	10,521	#74
83	Bailey	English	10,278	#72
84	Moreno	Spanish	10,187	#124
85	Reed	English	10,109	#73
86	Ward	English	9,957	#79
87	Herrera	Spanish	9,957	#129
88	Cooper	English	9,917	#70
89	Medina	Spanish	9,663	#133
90	Aguilar	Spanish	9,614	#134
91	Bennett	English	9,567	#86
92	Myers	English	9,539	#96
93	Sullivan	European	9,473	#105
94	Nguyen	Vietnamese	9,359	#38
95	Hughes	Welsh/English	9,294	#90
96	Castro	Spanish	9,286	#138
97	Long	English	9,174	#97
98	Vargas	Spanish	9,007	#148
99	Howard	English	8,983	#75
100	Fernandez	Spanish	8,950	#142
101	Price	Welsh	8,829	#91
102	Fisher	English	8,782	#112
103	Gray	English/Scottish	8,762	#87
104	Watson	English	8,740	#81
105	Guzman	English	8,645	#154
106	Russell	Unknown	8,594	#104
107	Richardson	English	8,387	#80
108	Mendez	Spanish	8,379	#162
109	Ross	Scottish	8,226	#98
110	Munoz	Spanish	8,221	#168
111	Foster	English	8,216	#99
112	Brooks	English	8,159	#82
113	Reynolds	Unknown	8,077	#121
114	Perry	Unknown	7,889	#103
115	Powell	English	7,871	#101
116	Salazar	Spanish	7,851	#179
117	Silva	Unknown	7,792	#163
118	Garza	Spanish	7,646	#186
119	Stevens	Unknown	7,532	#135
120	Sanders	English	7,525	#94
121	Soto	Spanish	7,496	#191
122	West	Unknown	7,477	#125
123	Cole	Unknown	7,448	#126
124	Barnes	Spanish/Portuguese	7,443	#110
125	Olson	English	7,442	#157
126	James	English	7,330	#85
127	Hamilton	English	7,303	#119
128	Graham	English	7,278	#120
129	Butler	English	7,258	#108
130	Vazquez	Spanish	7,231	#203
131	Bell	Unknown	7,222	#106
132	Snyder	English	7,222	#165
133	Patterson	English	7,206	#117
134	Kennedy	Unknown	7,121	#146
135	Wallace	Unknown	7,071	#123
136	Murray	Unknown	7,042	#136
137	Henderson	English	7,032	#109
138	Gibson	English	7,026	#130
139	Jordan	Unknown	7,006	#116
140	Mcdonald	Irish/Scottish	7,000	#143
141	Jenkins	Unknown	6,973	#102
142	Wagner	English	6,961	#173
143	Hayes	Spanish/Portuguese	6,956	#127
144	Alvarado	Spanish	6,943	#219
145	Ellis	Unknown	6,877	#131
146	Meyer	English	6,873	#183
147	Delgado	French/Spanish	6,870	#221
148	Contreras	Spanish	6,778	#229
149	Pena	Spanish	6,750	#227
150	Schmidt	German	6,718	#185
151	Griffin	Unknown	6,680	#122
152	Burns	Unknown	6,645	#155
153	Rios	Greek/Portuguese	6,631	#237
154	Wells	Unknown	6,628	#147
155	Simmons	Unknown	6,614	#114
156	Guerrero	Spanish	6,608	#234
157	Sandoval	Spanish	6,600	#233
158	Ortega	Spanish	6,576	#239
159	Estrada	Spanish	6,573	#238
160	Alexander	English	6,558	#118
161	Fox	European	6,544	#180
162	Nunez	Spanish	6,475	#242
163	Stone	Italian	6,463	#178
164	Harrison	English	6,462	#141
165	Webb	Unknown	6,445	#152
166	Ryan	European	6,379	#193
167	Marshall	Unknown	6,377	#139
168	Valdez	Spanish	6,315	#244
169	Maldonado	Spanish	6,312	#249
170	Owens	Unknown	6,286	#140
171	Rose	Unknown	6,284	#177
172	Hansen	Scandinavian	6,266	#204
173	Santos	Greek/Portuguese	6,212	#206
174	Coleman	English	6,185	#107
175	Dominguez	Spanish	6,175	#254
176	Santiago	Spanish	6,124	#248
177	Ford	English	6,112	#137
178	Bryant	Unknown	6,095	#128
179	Tucker	English	6,041	#153
180	Vega	Spanish	6,035	#261
181	Palmer	English	5,988	#172
182	Weaver	English	5,959	#192
183	Simpson	English	5,949	#158
184	Nichols	Unknown	5,943	#189
185	Shaw	Unknown	5,935	#164
186	Hoffman	English	5,935	#224
187	Mills	Unknown	5,913	#182
188	Hunt	Unknown	5,892	#169
189	Black	Unknown	5,848	#174
190	Espinoza	Spanish	5,843	#271
191	Crawford	English	5,835	#156
192	Johnston	English	5,835	#225
193	Rice	Unknown	5,827	#184
194	Freeman	English	5,808	#151
195	Porter	English	5,803	#159
196	Kelley	English	5,802	#198
197	Robertson	English	5,750	#175
198	Mason	English	5,712	#166
199	Kim	Korean	5,701	#77
200	Peters	Unknown	5,648	#205

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How We Estimate State Surnames

The US Census Bureau publishes national surname frequency data along with ethnic/racial distribution percentages for each surname. We combine this with California's demographic composition from the 2020 Census to estimate which surnames are most common in the state.

This approach, known as Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding (BISG), is widely used in academic research and government applications. While individual estimates may vary, the overall rankings provide a reliable picture of surname prevalence in California.

Data sources: US Census Bureau Decennial Census 2010 (surnames) and 2020 (state demographics).