#999 TANG Vietnamese surname, meaning from the Tang dynasty. #506 PATTON Son of Pat. #980 NOVAK The newcomer/new one. Hardened meaning battled in war. #227 PEA Lives near the rock or cliff. Ireland,limerick image by AGITA LEIMANE from Fotolia.com, Ireland,limerick image by AGITA LEIMANE from, Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd., all rights reserved. #812 BUCK Either descriptive or occupational surname for someone who resembled a male deer, or someone who traded in them. #912 BENTON From the town with the bent grass. ), This problem was apparently widespread enough that, in 2019, New York State passed a law to allow residents to choose two last names separated by a space. This is as much a reflection of the conversations that couples haveor dontas it is a product of desk-clerk-level policies. #774 DAVILA From the village. #191 SOTO Lives in or near the small forest. #390 (73,522) Of Anglo-Norman French origin, this patronymic means "son of Gerald.". #916 CRANE Nickname surname given to a man who was tall and thin like a crane (bird). Nevertheless, some surnames make it somewhat likely that somewhere along the line there was an Irish ancestor who was probably Catholic. 10. #278 McCOY Anglicized form of a Scottish surname meaning son of Aodh. Smith 6. Digitized records of Archives of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Kentucky was populated largely by settlers from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. #742 DYER Occupational surname for someone who dyed either cloth or hair or hide. We've got you covered with our map collection. #408 OCHOA Basque surname meaning The wolf. #555 MERCADO Occupational surname for someone who works in a market. #276 HANSON Son of Hans. #519 MOODY One of brave spirit. #404 CHANDLER Occupational surname for a candle-maker. #485 WISE Wise or educated person. #577 LOZANO Italian-Swiss surname for people from the city of Locarno, Switzerland. The Most Common American Last Names That Start With M. One of the most common surnames beginning with the letter M is Miller. #35 WRIGHT Occupational surname meaning a craftsman. #407 BOWEN Welsh surname meaning Son of Owain. #942 WALLER Either a habitational surname for someone who lived near a stone wall, or occupational for someone who built walls/was a mason. Sephardim fanned out fro Iberia to all parts of the known world: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, the New World, Central and . Abbott Save Image: Shutterstock 2. #313 JOSEPH He will add. #363 LEON Lion-like. #988 CANTRELL Occupational surname for a bell ringer (someone who rang the Chanterelles) or who sang in a choir. #452 ROMAN Person from Rome, Italy. #65 COOK Occupational surname for a cook/chef. High born. #147 WELLS From the well spring or water hole. (Watt was a nickname for Walter) Because, until the 20th Century a 300-mile journey was taxing and time-consuming, the farther south one goes, the more likely it is the inhabitants are Catholic, or at least Catholic in origin. #873 BERNAL Spanish surname meaning son of Baruch. Place name. #438 HARMON Form of the name Herman, meaning army man. Floor plans are artist's rendering. #849 GILES Holy man or one who does good. This late Latin surname is derived from the Latin word candidus, meaning "white". #388 SOLIS From the village or town of Soler. #266 HARVEY Worthy of Battle. #61 STEWART Occupational surname for someone who was a steward. #371 GRAVES Occupational surname for a steward, from from Middle English word greyve. #56 PARKER Occupational surname for someone worked as a park keeper or game keeper. 1. Attention: This site does not support the current version of your web browser. #57 CRUZ Of the Cross relating to Jesus Christ Though few studies on the topic have been conducted, evidence suggests that in almost every American family with a mom and a dad, children receive their fathers last name. #499 FRANK Person from France. That proportion seems to have remained remarkably consistent: A 2017 paper studying adoptive heterosexual parents found that they gave a patrilineal surname to their child 96 percent of the time. #565 BEIL From the German bil meaning axe. #610 MASSEY Matthews land. #204 HANSEN Son of Hans. O'Reilly 12. #652 FARRELL From the Irish surname,O Fearghail literally means Descendant of the brave man. #696 RICH Wealthy or family of Richard. Begin learning more about yourself and your heritage. #921 HORNE Occupational surname for someone who carved objects out of horn, or made musical horns (usually made out of animal horn at the time). Straight, married couples in the U.S. still almost always give kids the fathers last name. #790 CUEVAS Habitational surname for someone who lived in or near caves. Infoplease is a reference and learning site, combining the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas and several almanacs loaded with facts. #15 ANDERSON Son of Andrew. #559 ALI Exalted, revered. the second son, after the mother's father. "Catholic Last Name Popularity, Meaning and Origin". He was asking about an FBI memo citing . https://www.thoughtco.com/most-common-us-surnames-1422656 (accessed March 4, 2023). #340 CARRILLO Spanish surname, literally means cheek. From cart/wagon, so it may be occupational. the first daughter, after the father's mother. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/last-names/catholic-surname-popularity/. #764 ROACH From the French surname Roches, meaning lives near a rocky crag. 20 photos. #554 BURNETT Descriptive surname for someone with brown hair (brunette). O'Connell 26. Aarons Aaronson Abadi Abate Abeles Abelman Abelson Abend Abendroth Aberman Abrahamson Abramov Abramovich Abramovitz Abramowitz Abramowski Abrams Abramson Abt Acker Ackermann Adamsky Adel Adelberg Adell Adelman Adelmann Adelson Adelstein Aderman Ades Adler Agar Agron Aguado Ahrens Akerman Akkerman Aksamit Alhadeff Alman Almen Almon Alon Alper #552 PATRICK Nobleman. #385 LOVE From the French louve meaning a female wolf. And the rate at which parents are choosing not to marry has risen dramatically over the past 50 years. #380 DAWSON Son of David. #730 MOSLEY Habitational surname for a family that came from any number of towns named Mosley in the U.K. #857 RAYMOND Counsel protection. #956 ESTES From the East. Certain surnames identify Irish Catholic ancestry, but don't establish a dominant genealogy. #757 MURILLO Lives near a boundary or wall. Powell, Kimberly. #634 WILKINSON Son of William. It is essential to pursue policies that support families' choice of Catholic schools for their children. That started to change by about the 18th century, when coverture lawswhich counted wives as legal property of their husbandsgrew more entrenched in Britain, and evolved to effectively forbid women from owning land at all. #88 MENDOZA People who live near or are from the village of Mendoza, Spain. #627 SKINNER Occupational surname for someone who made hides or pelts. #465 MALONE From the Gaelic surname OMaoileoin meaning follower of St. John. #716 VILLEGAS From the house near the village. Yet even among heterosexual couples in which each partner keeps their name, the father still passes down his last name to the kids the majority of the time. Michael Houlihan may be the descendant of a MacDonough, a name with Scotch origins, who migrated from predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland to predominantly Catholic Southern Ireland and then married a Houlihan. #91 PRICE Family of Rhys. #79 WARD Guardian #229 CONTRERAS From the town of Contreras, Spain. Margaret Mary Healy Murphy (1833-1907), American Catholic nun; Mary Murphy (disambiguation), multiple . #787 BLANKENSHIP From the hill with a cairn. Theres this implicit understanding that having the fathers last name is inherently in the childs best interest, she said, citing cases where judges argued that taking the fathers surname would deepen the family relationship or provide children with more financial security later in life. #756 MERRITT Habitational surname for a family who came from Merriott in Somerset, UK. Mallinson knew that their choice was not a popular one for heterosexual American couplesshes a professor of sociolinguistics and gender and womens studies at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, and wrote a 2017 paper that, in part, analyzes patrilineal surname conventions. When the researchers asked the couples to explain why they chose the last names they did, lesbian and gay couples spoke far longer on those topics than did the heterosexual couples, Patterson told me. #570 WILKINS Family of William. #901 FRIEDMAN Servant of god or friend. #789 PALACIOS Spanish surname for someone who lived in a palace or worked in a palace. In China, the share of women who pass down their family name is on the rise. #359 DELEON Family of Leon. #666 BENITEZ Son of Benito. #296 BOWMAN Occupational surname for an archer. #288 FIELDS Lived in or near the fields. #936 LIM Chinese surname meaning forest. #909 FRY Born free. #818 BRADSHAW From the broad grove. #189 NICHOLS Family of Nicholas. #860 McMILLAN From the Gaelic surname Macghillemhaoil, meaning son of the monks servant. #185 SCHMIDT Occupational surname, German form of Smith meaning ironworker or tradesman. #219 ALVARADO From the white land. Literally Priests Town. #612 HUFF Lives by a ridge or hollow. Lucas IglesiasLucas, who lived near a church ( iglesia) Sebastin DesotoSebastin, of 'the grove' ( soto) Occupational Surnames Occupational Hispanic last names were initially derived from a person's job or trade. #447 BLAKE White complected or white haired. #826 HERMAN Army man. #92 ALVAREZ Family of Alvaro. #869 RUSH From the place with reeds or occupational surname for someone who worked with reeds. #937 FRYE Born free. #367 HORTON From the farm on muddy soil. #507 IBARRA From the valley or hillside. #262 BISHOP Occupational surname for a bishop. Top 100 Most Common Last Names in the United States. #602 WILCOX Son of William. #538 MACIAS Spanish/Jewish surname meaning Messiah. #458 DELACRUZ Literally translates to of the cross. #192 WEAVER Occupational surname for a weaver of cloth. The last name Helguson, for instance, means son of Helga, referring to a mothers first name; many other Icelanders have surnames that reflect the first name of their father. #868 PACE The peaceful one. #476 FRANCO Person from France. #951 STUART Occupational surname for someone who worked as a steward/assistant. #795 ODONNELL Family of Donnell/Donald. #998 TRAVIS Occupational surname for someone who collected a tax or toll at a crossing. Given to a young person who was excitable or energetic. #413 FRANCIS Person from France or free man. Robinson was the 20th most popular name in 1990 but fell off the list, as Latino surnames become more common. ETHNONYMS: Afro-French, Black Creoles, Black French, Creoles, Cr oles, Cr oles Noirs, Creoles of Color. #872 McCONNELL From the Gaelic MacDhomhnuill meaning son of Donald/Donal. #308 PEARSON Son of Piers. #40 FLORES Son of Floro. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., seen here on Aug. 3, pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday on how many informants the FBI has in Catholic churches. But no matter how popular, your last name is one of the most important ways to trace your identity and familial descent through the years! #735 HUERTA Lives by the top of a hill or near a fortress. #453 WEBSTER Occupational surname for a weaver. #600 ZUNIGA From the town of Estuniga, Spain. #685 WIGGINS Son of the high noble or warrior. I also have a Ph.D. in English and have written more than 4,000 articles for regional and national publications. #309 CURTIS Person with manners. Popular Indian Christian Surnames Or Last Names 1. #7 MILLER Occupational surname for someone who worked in a mill. #575 NICHOLSON Son of Nicholas. Today, women arent legally mandated to give their husbands last name to their children but U.S. bureaucracy has continued to enforce patrilineal naming conventions. #902 POTTS Family of Philpott, an early form of the name Phillip. When Alcia Hernndez Grande, now a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University, got her drivers license as a teenager in Houston in 2004, she remembers that the DMV tried to split her last name, Hernndez Grande, into two parts. #626 CHRISTIAN Follower of Christ. #210 ELLIOTT Family of Elias. #725 ROSARIO Contraction of the Spanish Mara del Rosario, given to a girl who was born on the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on the first Sunday in October. #822 FROST Nickname surname for a person who had white hair or who had a frosty disposition. Marguerite d'Angoulme (1492-1549) Protestantism was quickly embraced by members of the nobility, by the intellectual elite, and by professionals in trades, medicine, and crafts. #572 BRIGGS Variation of the name Bridges could be habitational for someone who lived near a bridge or occupational for someone who built bridges. #919 VILLALOBOS From the town of Villalobos, Spain, meaning the village of wolves. #386 ROBLES From the village of Robles, in the province of Leon, Spain. #704 CANTU Occupational surname for a singer or cantor. (S), or less than 100 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only". #689 ONEILL Son of Neill. Several of the names that rank highly on this list are also predicted to be among the most popular baby names this year. #226 MATTHEWS Son of Matthew. What is the Ancestry Chromosome Painter/Browser? (Double-barrel surnames can also retain patrilineal lineages of their own; Spain required that the fathers last name be listed firstand therefore be the next name that gets passed downuntil the laws started to change in 2000.) #940 AVALOS Spanish habitational surname for someone from balos, Spain. #791 BARTLETT Son or family of Bartholomew. Murray 19. #770 BULLOCK From the English word bullock meaning young steer. #591 SUMMERS Occupational surname for a sumpter a person who drove pack mules or horses. Daw was a nickname for David. #752 SHANNON From the Gaelic OSionain, an occupational surname for someone who worked with straw. There are a few names that could be either - Katherine, Thomas, Anderson - so you go to schools. 92.00%, or 92 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only". #48 MITCHELL Variation on the name Michael, meaning Who is like God? If you know your Italian ancestors' traditional naming patterns, you can use the names of bambini to guess the parents' and grandparents' identities: the first son was named after the father's father. #213 ARMSTRONG Literally means strong man. #159 PORTER Occupational surname for someone who transported items. #595 CLAYTON From the village of clay (on clay ground). #2 JOHNSON - Son of John. Anthony has researched court cases in which couples battle over who has the right to pass down the surname to their kids. #877 VENTURA Foundling or deserted child used for someone who was innocent or gullible. #617 MONROE Scottish clan name possibly meaning Man from the river Roe referring to an Irish place name.