Fun With Name Demographics

Our names are our identity, what distinguishes one person from the next. In early days a person needed only a first name as an identity. These first names usually had an early meaning: Matthew, Gift of God; or Paul, small or humble.

As the world population grew, people were given names that described their occupation or something else that, again, would become an identifier and distinguish them from others. Smith, Miller, Carpenter, Shepherd and Knight are examples of surnames derived from occupations. In some countries children were identified by adding "son" on the father's name. John's son became Johnson. These are just obvous examples, but some kind of meaningful system evolved for each geographical area.

When you study the origin of your own name, first and last, you add information to your personal identity. You find clues as to your origins in the context of the whole world. Of course, there is only one you. Many people can have the same name and even the same general origins and be entirely different from one another.

It helps us to feel grounded to know where we came from. In the United States and other "newer" countries, we can descend from many different areas. My father's side are mainly from England and Ireland and my mother's side from Holland, England and Scotland. My grandchildren add Portugal and Mexico to their ancestral origins. By the way, what an interesting approach to geography and history. Far more interesting than a sequential study of facts in books.

How popular or common is your last name today? Here are the 50 most popular surnames in the U.S. Today. (Check the census for your country.) See if your name is on it. If not, go to U.S. Census Bureau | Genealogy to look your name up.

It's also very interesting to see what other conclusions can be drawn from the data on the names.

Smith
Johnson
Williams
Brown
Jones
Miller
Davis
Garcia
Rodriguez
Wilson
Martinez
Anderson
Taylor
Thomas
Hernandez
Moore
Martin
Jackson
Thompson
White
Lopez
Lee
Gonzalez
Harris
Clark
Lewis
Robinson
Walker
Perez
Hall
Young
Allen
Sanchez
Wright
King
Scott
Green
Baker
Adams
Nelson
Hill
Ramirez
Campbell
Mitchell
Roberts
Carter
Phillips
Evans
Turner
Torres

You can't research your name without connecting to others with the same name. Start collecting the names you're connected to and hang them on your family tree.