1. Home
  2. Topics

American Last Names

American last names used as baby names -- either first names or middle names -- is a popular trend in the U.S. Other Western cultures, including English-speaking ones, do not generally use last names as first names, which makes American last names particularly suited to this genre. Some of these American last names have been used for a long time as first names, or even originated as first names, as with Thomas. Other American surnames are more recent entrants to the baby name pool, especially when used for girls: Taylor, for example, or Carter. And while non-Anglo last names have been slower to be adapted as first names, that is starting to happen too. Especially stylish right now are last names ending with S: Brooks, Collins, Wells, Gates. Hilary Duff named her little girl Banks, and Emma Roberts' son is name Rhodes. To gather typical American last names in one place, we drew all the names on this list from the Census Bureau's count of top last names in the U.S. They are ordered here not by how popular they are as last names in the US, but how popular they are as baby names among the visitors to our website.

Thomas

Meaning: twin

Origin:Aramaic
59
Alexander

Meaning: defending men

Origin:Greek
42
Williams The meaning of Williams is 'son or servant o...
Origin:English
6090
Henry

Meaning: estate ruler

Origin:German
40
Watkins Watkins is commonly used as a masculine name...
Origin:English
11504
Adams Adams has been originated from Adam and is m...
Origin:English
10390