Surname blacksmiths in different languages of the world. The most beautiful surnames in the world. A selection of the most beautiful foreign surnames
We are used to the fact that every person has a surname. And are there exceptions? Are there many surnames in the world? When and where did the very first appear? Which of them are the most popular all over the world and in individual countries? If you are interested in the answers to these questions, read about everything in order in the article.
Inheritance from ancestors is different
Now it is impossible to imagine a person without a surname. However, there are such people. For example, in Iceland people manage only with a personal name and patronymic (patronymic). And at the beginning of the XX century. in this country, even a law was issued prohibiting native Icelanders from having a surname. Since then, only foreigners or those with foreign roots have it. In addition, residents of the underdeveloped states of Africa and Asia do not have surnames; nicknames are used there to distinguish them. In the rest of the world, people have long been accustomed to using generic names and cannot imagine their life without them. Over time, the most common and popular surnames stood out. And some, on the contrary, have become rare and outlandish.
Comes from antiquity
The origin of this specific generic name dates back to ancient rome. The Latin word familia means "family" or "genus". In Russia, such self-names appeared in the XIV century. and gradually replaced personal nicknames. In any country, noble persons received the first surnames, and then the tradition passed to other classes, gradually reaching the lowest.
Reflecting the characteristics of a particular language and culture, there are many different surnames in the world. It is difficult to calculate how many of them there are in the world, but the most popular surnames can be distinguished. If you look at this rating, you get the impression: the shorter, the more popular. The top four lines are occupied by Asian generic names, because often popular surnames were formed from hieroglyphs.
Top five most
First place - Lee (Lee, Li, Ly). According to unofficial statistics, more than 100 million people in the world wear it. Most of them live in China, Vietnam and Korea, but there are many Europeans and Americans among them who inherited this generic name from some ancestor.
In second place in the ranking of "The most popular surnames" - Chang (Chang, Zhang). This Chinese surname appeared more than 4 thousand years ago, and during this time has become one of the most common in Asia and around the world. She has variants of Zhang and Chen.
Third place - Wang (or Wong, written in Latin Wang). Like many popular surnames, it originated in China. There is nothing surprising here, if we remember that about one and a half billion of the population of our planet are Chinese by nationality. And since there are only 450 Chinese surnames, it becomes clear why some of them are so often repeated.
Fourth place - the Vietnamese surname Nguyen (Nguyen). It is so common that in Vietnam itself 40% of citizens wear it. This is hard to imagine in a European country.
The second top five
Fifth place - Garcia. This one is heard by many. It is extremely popular in Spain itself, as well as in South America, Cuba and the Philippines.
Sixth place - Gonzalez (or Gonzalez). Another very common surname in the Hispanic world.
Seventh place - Hernandez. Formed in the 15th century, this generic name is now worn by residents of Spain, Chile, Mexico, the USA and some other countries.
The last three popular surnames in the global top ten come from English, Russian and German.
Eighth place - Smith. This is the most common surname in England, Australia and the USA. Translated into Russian, it means "blacksmith".
Many popular ones are associated with the names of professions. For example: Potter ("potter"), Miller ("miller"), Baker ("baker"), Cook ("cook"), Ward ("guard"), Butler ("butler"), etc. The names of paints were no less often the source from which came such popular English surnames as Brown ("brown"), White ("white"), Green ("green"), Gray ("gray"), Black ("black"), etc. d.
Ninth place - Smirnov. There are several versions of the origin of this surname. According to one of them, it comes from the word "quiet", and according to another - from the old Russian greeting: "With the new world!". Just like the British, popular surnames in Russia are often formed from the names of the first professions: Kuznetsov, Melnikov, Goncharov, Popov, Stolyarov.
Tenth place in the world ranking - Muller. This is also a “professional” generic name: in German it means “miller”. This surname is common in all countries speaking this language: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg.
Studying surnames is an exciting activity and also one of the ways to immerse yourself in the language and culture of a particular country.
They say "as you call a boat, so it will float." Does this mean that a popular surname can make a person popular too?
Among the most popular surnames are not only Chinese or English, but also Russian, Spanish, African and even Greek.
Here are the most common surnames in the world:
The most famous surnames
25. Smith
This surname appeared in England and gradually spread to English-speaking countries. Smith is by far the most common surname in the US, UK, Canada, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.
24. Garcia
It is easy to guess that this surname is the most popular in Spain. However, it is also the second most popular in Cuba and third in Mexico. Due to the fact that many Latin Americans come to work in the United States, the surname Garcia is in 8th place in popularity here.
23. Martin
In France, more than 235,000 people have this surname, making it the most popular in the country. It is also worth noting that in many languages there are other versions of this surname that are used as first names rather than surnames, such as names such as Martinus or Martin, which are derived from Latin.
22. Rossi
in italian plural this surname Rosso (Rosso), which means "red". In Italy, this is the most common surname. However, it is also very popular in countries like Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Peru, USA and Uruguay.
21. Novak
This surname translates as " new person", "novice" or "foreigner". This is a very popular Slavic name or surname. Most of the carriers of this surname live in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, but it is also very popular in Croatia, Serbia and Romania.
The most common surnames
20. Fernandez
This surname is translated as "son of Fernando". It is a very popular surname in Spain (8th place), 4th most popular in Argentina, 10th in Paraguay and 13th in Mexico. In Portugal, this surname is also quite common.
19. Smirnov
Researchers from the Medical Genetic Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences decided to deeply study the issue of the most popular surname. They divided Russian Federation into hypothetical regions, each of which has been studied in detail.
As a result of the study, it turned out that the most popular surname in Russia is Smirnov. It will be interesting to note that one of the versions of the origin of the surname says that the word "Smirnoy" served as the basis of the surname, which denoted a character trait ("meek" = "obedient").
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Kuznetsov
18. Silva
More than 10% of all Brazilians have this surname, making it the most common in this country. This surname comes from the Latin word "silva", which means "forest" or "woodland". It is also popular in Portugal and former Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (including India and Sri Lanka).
17. Mohammed
This name translates as "Praised", "Worthy of Praise" and is the most popular name and surname in the Islamic world. There are several versions of this name, including Mohammed (Mohammed), Mohammed and Muhammad.
16. Kumar
The roots of this surname can be found at the beginning of the development of Hinduism. This is not only the most popular name in India, but also a surname and even a patronymic. Kumar is also the 8th most popular surname in the world.
15. Gonzales
It is a very popular Spanish given name and the second most common surname. In addition, it is very common in Latin America, including countries such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.
What are the most common surnames
14. Muller
The German word "muller" (also spelled "mueller" or "miller") translates as "miller". This is the most popular surname in Germany, Switzerland and parts of France. In Austria, she ranks 5th in the list of the most common surnames in the country.
13. Cohen
Initially, the word "cohen" in Hebrew was called a priest. It is also a very popular Jewish surname and can often be heard in countries where there are large Jewish communities. There are several variants of this surname: Coen, Cohn, Kahn, Kohn and others.
12. Nguyen
Without any competition, this surname is the most popular in Vietnam, where about 40% of the inhabitants are its bearers. But this surname is also popular outside the country, thanks to the many immigrants from Vietnam.
11. Khan
This surname and title is of Mongolian origin. Initially, Khan was the title of the leader of the tribe, and in the states that appeared after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, it was the title of the sovereign. In the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan was called Khan. Today it is the most popular surname in the countries of Central and South Asia. It is one of the most common surnames in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman and Turkey.
10 Rodriguez
A very popular surname in Spain, the USA and Latin America. Rodriguez means "descendant of Rodrigues" and is the most common surname in Colombia, the second most common in Argentina, and the ninth most common in Brazil, where it is often spelled "Rodrigues".
Top Surnames
9. Wang
This is the most popular surname in China. In total, about 100,000 inhabitants of the country are its owners. In second place among the popular Chinese surnames is Lee (Lee), and in third Zhang (Zhang).
8 Anderson
This surname comes from a word indicating origin, meaning "descendant of Anders (Anders) / Andrew (Andrew)". The surname appeared in parallel in the British Isles and in the countries of northern Europe. Anderson is a popular surname in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (where it is spelled "Andersen").
7. Yilmaz
This surname is translated as "brave" or "invincible." It is very popular in Turkey. In Turkey, until 1934 there were no surnames, and after the adoption of the "Law on Surnames", the most popular surnames became Kaya (Kaya), Demir (Demir) and Sahin (Sahin), but the surname Yilmaz became the most popular and by a wide margin.
6. Traore
This surname has roots in the Manding languages. Traore is a very popular surname in several West African countries including Mali, Senegal and Guinea.
The most common surname in Russia
5. Ivanov
It is worth noting that many attempts have been made to find out which surname is still the most popular in Russia.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Oxford University philologist Ottokar Genrikhovich Unbegaun, who was a native of Russia, was one of the first to try to figure out the most popular surname. He began in St. Petersburg, where, in his opinion, the most common surname for 1910 was Ivanov, which comes from one of the most popular Russian names - Ivan.
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Kuznetsov
Vasiliev.
The second attempt took place in modern Russia. Anatoly Fedorovich Zhuravlev, trying to find out which surname is the most popular in his homeland, came to the same result - the surname Ivanov.
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Mikhailov.
Vasiliev
4. Ahmed
The very popular Arabic name Ahmed also boasts a lot of various options his spellings are Ahmad, Ahmet, Ahmat. The world's most popular options are Ahmet and Ahmad. Many people named Ahmed can be found in Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh and other countries.
The most common surnames in the world
3. Lopez
This surname comes from the Latin word "lupus", which means "wolf". Lopez is a popular Spanish given name. In Portugal, it sounds Lopes (Lopes), in Italy - Lupo (Lupo), in France - Loup (Loup), in Romania - Lupu (Lupu) or Lupescu (Lupescu). In Latin America, the surname Lopez is also very popular.
2. Kim
Sometimes this surname is written as Gim. It is very common on the Korean Peninsula (both in the South and in North Korea). About 22% of the inhabitants of the peninsula bear the surname Kim, which can be translated as "metal", "iron" or "gold".
1. Papadopulos
The meaning of this surname is "son of a priest". Papadopoulos is the most popular surname in Greece and Cyprus, as well as in countries with a Greek diaspora such as the US, UK, Australia and the Scandinavian countries.
What is the most common Russian surname
If we take into account all three studies, we can say that Ivanov and Smirnov are the most common surnames in Russia. However, it is worth noting that one of the most popular surnames today is also the surname Kuznetsov (Kuznetsova). And if we take into account that English blacksmith– smith, then there are several million carriers of this surname on Earth.
1. Lee - Over 100 million people worldwide
This is the most common surname in the world, with about 7.9 percent of Chinese people being lucky owners. There are different varieties of this surname - Li, Lee and even Ly, it all depends on the region where the person lives.
Pictured is Bruce Lee, the legendary film actor, master of martial arts.
2. Zhang - more than 100 million people
Zhang is another of the most common Chinese surnames. In 1990, it was recognized as the most common in the world and entered the Guinness Book of Records. This surname has been used in China for many thousands of years. Pictured is Zhang Yining playing table tennis.
3. Wang - more than 93 million people
The population of China exceeds 1 billion people, it is not surprising that Chinese surnames are the most common in the world. Wang is one of the most used surnames in China with 93 million people. In translation, it literally means - "monarch", "king". This surname is also commonly used in Korea, Vietnam, and even Japan. Pictured is Wang Chen Ming, a baseball player.
4. Nguyen - more than 36 million people
Nguyen is the most common Vietnamese surname. About 40% of the people of Vietnam are its carriers. This surname is also common outside of Vietnam in those countries where the Vietnamese emigrate. For example, this surname is in 54th place in France. In the US, it is in 57th place. Pictured is Kyunh Nguyen, a pianist.
5. Garcia - more than 10 million people
The surname Garcia is distributed all over the world - in North and South America, the Philippines, Spain. The surname, most likely, is of Basque origin, meaning "young", "younger". About 3.3% of Spaniards are Garcias, the second most common surname in Cuba, and in Mexico 4.1 million people are Garcias. Pictured is Pablo Marcano Garcia, an artist from Puerto Rico.
6. Gonzalez - more than 10 million people
Gonzalez is a surname of Spanish origin. This is the second surname after Garcia in Spain. It is also popular in Latin America, in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Paraguay. Pictured is Sheila Gonzalez, saxophonist from the USA.
7. Hernandez - over 8 million people
The surname Hernandez has both Spanish and Portuguese roots. It is used in Mexico, USA, Chile, Spain, Cuba and several other countries. In translation, it means "son of Hernan." Pictured is Peter Hernandez, singer.
8. Smith - over 4 million people
Smith is an English surname most common in the UK, Australia and the United States, Canada and Ireland. The origin of the surname is connected with blacksmithing, it was blacksmiths who were called Smiths in the old days. Pictured is Adrian Smith, an American architect who designed many skyscrapers, including the famous Burj Khalifa and Trump Tower.
9. Smirnov - more than 2.5 million people
Contrary to popular belief, the most common Russian surname is not Ivanov, and certainly not Kuznetsov. More than 2.5 million people around the world bear the surname Smirnov. The origin of the surname is probably connected with the word "Smirny". Pictured is Stanislav Smirnov, mathematician.
10. Mueller - over a million people
The German surname Müller is the most common in Germany and Switzerland, as well as in Austria and a number of other neighboring countries. It means "miller" in German. Pictured is Patrick Müller, a football player from Switzerland.
What are the most common surnames in Russia and the USA? Do you think it's Ivanov and Johnson (John is English version name Ivan) respectively? This is not entirely true, although they take prizes in a kind of ranking.
Top 20 most common surnames in Russia
1. Smirnov
2. Ivanov
3. Kuznetsov
4. Sokolov
5. Popov
6. Lebedev
7. Kozlov
8. Novikov
9. Morozov
10. Petrov
11. Volkov
12. Solovyov
13. Vasiliev
14. Zaitsev
15. Pavlov
16. Semyonov
17. Golubev
18. Vinogradov
19. Bogdanov
20. Sparrows
As you can see, the surname Smirnov is the first on the list, the surname Ivanov will take the second line of the list, and the third place belongs to the surname Kuznetsov.
Consider now a list of the most common surnames in America. Our rating there is as follows:
Top 20 most common surnames in the US
1. Smith (Smith)
2. Johnson (Johnson)
3. Williams (Williams)
4. Jones (Jones)
5. Brown (Brown)
6. Davis (Davis)
7. Miller (Miller)
8. Wilson (Wilson)
9. Moore (Moore)
10. Taylor (Taylor)
11. Anderson (Anderson)
12. Thomas (Thomas)
13. Jackson (Jackson)
14. White (White)
15. Harris (Harris)
16. Martin (Martin)
17. Thompson (Thompson)
18. Garcia (Garcia)
19. Martinez (Martinez)
20 Robinson
As you can see, both of these lists have similar champions. The American Smith (1) has the Russian counterpart Kuznetsov (3), and the Johnson-Ivan pair is in second place both there and there. Interestingly, purely Latin American realities have already crept into the American top - Garcia and Martinez. Surnames like Petrosyan or Mammadov have not yet been included in our top :)
1. Lee - more than 100 million people
Bruce Lee
Li is the most common surname in the world, mainly in China, and this is not surprising, since this surname is derived from the Chinese character Li. And there are a billion Chinese on the planet, and although there are a billion of them, it seems that they have a bad imagination, it turns out that there are only 450 surnames for all Chinese. You understand that the percentage of people bearing the surname Li is very high, about 7.9 percent of the population of China, especially since it is also common in Vietnam.
2. Zhang - approximately 100 million people
Zhang Yining won the gold medal in table tennis at the 2004 Olympics
Zhang is also one of the most common Chinese surnames. In the 1990 Guinness Book of Records, she was listed as the most common surname in the world. It also ranks third in China at the beginning of 2006. The first mention of this surname in the annals was recorded about 4000 years ago.
3. Van - more than 93 million people
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Wang (title) - the title of the rulers of states and principalities in China, Korea and Mongolia in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Wang (surname) is a common Chinese surname
Van (prefix) is a prefix to Dutch surnames.
4. Nguyen - more than 36 million people
Scotty Nguyen - The "Prince of Poker" Scotty has over $9 million in tournament winnings to date.
Nguyen is the most common Vietnamese surname. According to some estimates, approximately 40 percent of Vietnamese have this surname. The prevalence of the surname Nguyen in addition to Vietnam also has circulation outside the country due to large immigration during the Vietnam War. Nguyen is the 7th most common surname in Australia and 54th in France. In the United States, it is the 57th most common surname according to the 2000 Census.
5. Garcia - over 10 million people
Hollywood actor Andy Garcia.
Garcia is a common surname throughout South America, the Philippines and Spain. There are several theories about its origin and stories that this surname has Basque roots. Garcia is the most common surname in Spain (where 3.32% of the population identifies themselves as Garcia) and also the second most common surname in Cuba. 4,100,000 people in Mexico have the surname Garcia.
6. Gonzalez - more than 10 million people
Mark Gonzalez is a Chilean football player who plays for CSKA Moscow and the Chilean national team.
Spain is considered the birthplace of the Gonzalez family. In Spain, it is the most common surname (after Garcia) with 2.08% of the population having this surname. It is also very popular in Latin America, and is most common in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Paraguay, making it the most popular surname in the Spanish-speaking world. In the United States, it is 23rd in distribution.
7. Hernandez - more than 8 million people
Dahlia Hernandez. Frame from the film Apocalypse.
Hernandez is a Spanish and Portuguese surname that came into use in the 15th century. This surname is found mainly in Mexico, USA, Chile, Spain, Cuba.
8. Smith - over 4 million people
Will Smith has received two Oscar nominations, four Golden Globe Awards and several Grammy Awards in his acting career.
Smith is the most common surname in the UK, Australia and the United States, the second most common in Canada, and the fifth most common surname in Ireland. Approximately 3 million people in the United States have the surname Smith, and more than 500,000 in the UK.
9. Smirnov - more than 2.5 million people
Alexey Smirnov, the film "Operation Y".
According to the 2002 census, Smirnov (male) or Smirnova (female) is the most common surname in Russia.
Smirnov is a surname that was "born" exclusively in Russia and became widespread in neighboring countries (especially in Belarus). Smirnov, as many people think, from the word "quietly", but in fact the surname came from the word "put up, peaceful, appeasement." In a sense, this was the name given to people who live in harmony with nature.
“Whatever you call a boat, so it will float,” the famous captain Vrungel sang. And does his surname affect human destiny? If your last name is the most popular in the world, are you destined to become just as popular? To find out, let's take a look at the most common surnames in the world.
Most Popular Surnames
The largest number - 300 million people - on Earth have the surname Li, Chang (Zhang), Wang. It is not difficult for us to guess that they are Chinese. In fact, this is because the Chinese have nothing to choose from - there are a billion 300 million people, but there are only about 500 variants of Chinese surnames. For comparison, it is much easier for Russians - we have 15 thousand versions of family names.Anyone understands that if there are a lot of people, but there are very few options, then a kind of shortage is created. Therefore, wherever you look - everywhere is Lee or Van. Li's citizens are as many as 100,000,000 people. It is difficult to imagine such an "army" of namesakes. 7.9% of Chinese people are just Li. And how many more Vietnamese and even Russians ... There is a hieroglyph of the same name in Chinese writing. He gave the name to this surname. This hieroglyph means strength.
The Chinese surname Zhang (Chang) is translated as a clan. There is another meaning of this word - the head of the book. Therefore, the surname Zhang speaks either of numerous kinship, or that its bearer is related to literature in his professional activities. Of course, this refers to the historical origin of the generic name. There are also about 100 million such namesakes.
The most common surname in Russia
Attempts to find out which surnames are most common in Russia have been made more than once. One of the first studies was carried out at the beginning of the 20th century by the Oxford philologist Ottokar Genrikhovich Unbegaun, a native of Russia. He took up research in St. Petersburg, opening his address book. It was called "All Petersburg". According to this Russian scholar, in the Northern capital the most common surname for 1910 was Ivanov. And this is not surprising. After all, it comes from the “most Russian” name - Ivan. 
By the way, the second attempt to explore the Russian surnames of already modern Russia, undertaken by Anatoly Fedorovich Zhuravlev, again brought the same surname - Ivanov - to the leaders.
And only research by scientists from the Medical Genetic Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences changed this result. Scientists took up the study of the issue on a large scale - they conditionally divided the country into hypothetical regions and studied them separately. In the end, their answer is that the Smirnovs won! A surname derived from the Russian word for "peace". In the Unbegaun rating, the Smirnovs are second, while Zhuravlev is fourth. In general, the first five of Unbegaun looks like this: Ivanov, Smirnov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Vasiliev. Option A.F. Zhuravleva: Ivanov, Vasiliev, Petrov, Smirnov, Mikhailov. And according to the third version, the popularity rating of Russian surnames looks like this: Smirnov, Ivanov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Sokolov.
Comparing all three works, we can say that the most common surnames in Russia are the surnames Ivanov and Smirnov, present on the top lines of popularity in all studies.
It should be noted that one of the most popular surnames in Russia is the surname Kuznetsov. If it is translated into English language, then we get the most common surname in North America (after the Chinese surname Li, common there too) - Smith. On the planet, about 4,000,000 bear this surname. And, if we add to the translations also options - Kovalev, Koval, then perhaps this surname "by the whole world" competes with the Chinese popularity ratings.
In contrast to the common surnames of Russia, we will consider options for the most unique, interesting and original surnames. I must say that the "surname" in translation means family, family. This is the name of the genus, leading its existence from distant ancestors. I must say that initially the surname was the nickname of a person, speaking about his personal characteristics or profession, or personality traits.
Today, if you look at the telephone directory, you can see very funny, but at the same time unique surnames. We read there - God's Will, Nebeyvdrug, Killwolf.
Most Common Names
One of the most common names on the planet, which is not surprising, belongs again to the Chinese. Often there are men named Kim in the world.In Russia, men are most often called Alexandra. The name is international, it can be found among other languages.
But, despite the fact that the name Kim belongs to the numerous nation on Earth, and men named Alexander are found all over the world, the most common male name in the world - Muhammad and his variants. In honor of the prophet of Islam, newborn boys are most often named in all countries where this religion is widespread.
Among female names, Anna and its variations hold the palm. Translated from Hebrew, it means - favor, favor, blessing. You can read more about the most common names.
In India, in one of the provinces, parents "compete" in inventing unusual names for their offspring. There you can meet people who are called "Silver Dollar" or "Two Kilograms of Rice."
There is a woman in the USA whose name consists of 598 letters. And the lady refuses to cut it. Well, at least close friends are allowed to call her a short version of the name, otherwise, while they would welcome the hostess, having come to visit, they would already have to say goodbye.
Among famous people the leader in the unusualness of the name is the artist Pablo Picasso, full name who sounds - Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomukeno Crispin Crispiano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz and Picasso. There are 93 letters in total. True, for the Spaniards, such pretentiousness is not a very rare occurrence.
The most common surname in the world
So, the ranking of the most common surnames looks like this: the top lines are occupied by the Chinese Li, Zhang and Wang. Next comes the Vietnamese surname - Nguyen. Following Nguyen are Hispanic Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez. Then the Anglo-American Smiths. And, finally, the Russian Smirnovs. Rounding out the top ten popular surnames are the Millers (Mullers, Millyars) - which in Russian means - a miller.Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen