100 Most Common 2 Letter Last Names in the U.S.

In this section of the site we have data on the most common 2 letter last names in the United States. These names are taken directly from the most recent census data.

Currently, the most popular 2 letter last name in America is Li, with a total count of 111,786 people who have the surname. The surname Li occurs roughly 37 times per 100,000 people in the U.S.

The table below shows the most common 2 letter surnames with statistics on the heritage and ancestry of those with the surname.

Click any of the names in the table below to find out more about the origin, meaning, and ancestry of each last name.

Rank Name Count White Black API AIAN 2+ Races Hispanic
273 LI 111,786 1.49% 0.19% 96.78% 0.02% 0.89% 0.63%
277 LE 110,967 1.49% 0.23% 95.59% 0.03% 1.92% 0.75%
461 WU 71,721 1.37% 0.18% 96.37% 0.02% 1.59% 0.48%
658 YU 52,035 1.46% 0.12% 96.10% 0.02% 1.61% 0.69%
691 HO 49,817 2.42% 0.20% 93.06% 0.03% 3.21% 1.08%
960 VO 36,236 1.40% 0.16% 96.07% 0.04% 1.72% 0.61%
962 VU 36,179 1.04% (S) 96.61% (S) 1.68% 0.58%
978 LU 35,628 1.77% 0.36% 95.74% 0.02% 1.43% 0.69%
1125 NG 31,210 1.92% 0.22% 93.20% 0.04% 2.81% 1.81%
1159 DO 30,301 2.34% 0.37% 94.78% 0.02% 1.64% 0.86%
1176 LY 29,891 1.18% 1.54% 94.59% 0.03% 1.72% 0.95%
1240 MA 28,452 3.07% 0.45% 93.51% 0.06% 1.37% 1.54%
1381 XU 25,622 0.83% 0.12% 98.25% 0.02% 0.55% 0.24%
1797 HU 19,999 2.22% 0.37% 94.93% 0.04% 1.63% 0.81%
1978 OH 18,285 1.99% 0.19% 95.48% 0.05% 1.78% 0.51%
1987 HA 18,156 3.67% 0.69% 92.93% 0.04% 2.03% 0.63%
2011 YI 17,934 1.41% 0.18% 94.45% 0.03% 2.13% 1.80%
2036 LO 17,687 2.89% 2.17% 90.80% 0.06% 2.74% 1.33%
2373 HE 15,363 2.29% (S) 95.92% (S) 0.49% 0.97%
2708 KO 13,312 2.87% (S) 93.63% (S) 2.41% 0.85%
2779 SU 12,973 2.26% (S) 93.36% (S) 2.00% 2.01%
3609 YE 9,839 1.33% (S) 97.02% (S) 0.84% 0.49%
3835 TU 9,230 1.95% (S) 94.03% (S) 2.26% 1.53%
3979 TO 8,934 1.96% (S) 95.06% (S) 1.37% 1.28%
4235 FU 8,370 2.19% (S) 94.06% (S) 2.00% 1.46%
4353 AN 8,160 3.37% 0.87% 92.99% 0.07% 1.42% 1.27%
4434 TA 8,017 2.46% 0.50% 94.29% 0.11% 1.76% 0.89%
4690 DU 7,566 2.78% 0.81% 94.71% 0.07% 0.77% 0.87%
4749 SO 7,456 2.87% (S) 92.60% (S) 2.03% 1.84%
4919 AU 7,148 8.38% (S) 83.07% (S) 5.69% 2.48%
5242 LA 6,655 6.00% 0.99% 88.91% 0.09% 1.76% 2.25%
6183 GU 5,532 2.64% (S) 94.78% (S) 0.45% 1.68%
6877 KU 4,888 3.76% (S) 85.31% (S) 3.54% 7.20%
6880 IM 4,887 2.13% (S) 94.90% (S) 1.80% 0.88%
7217 NI 4,624 1.92% (S) 94.90% (S) 1.41% 1.15%
7473 SY 4,457 5.63% 19.07% 71.89% (S) 2.06% (S)
7607 GO 4,370 6.18% (S) 86.61% (S) 3.55% 3.09%
7891 OU 4,196 2.24% (S) 95.61% (S) 1.36% 0.60%
8216 JI 4,039 1.66% (S) 96.91% (S) 0.74% 0.52%
8320 MO 3,983 7.48% 2.01% 85.79% 0.00% 2.16% 2.56%
9003 UY 3,633 2.84% (S) 91.33% (S) 3.17% 2.28%
9108 JO 3,588 6.80% 1.70% 85.23% 0.17% 1.67% 4.43%
11846 CO 2,642 10.79% 3.18% 78.35% (S) (S) 4.50%
12035 QU 2,593 1.66% 0.27% 95.49% 0.00% 1.12% 1.47%
12423 JU 2,502 3.64% 0.48% 92.37% 0.00% 1.80% 1.72%
12607 RO 2,455 12.30% (S) 78.21% (S) 2.53% 5.09%
12627 BA 2,451 14.12% 65.44% 12.73% (S) (S) 4.81%
13042 QI 2,354 1.36% (S) 97.62% (S) 0.76% 0.21%
13674 RE 2,214 82.57% 4.70% 2.21% 0.50% 1.13% 8.90%
14505 IP 2,057 2.38% (S) 94.70% (S) 2.09% 0.73%
15232 DY 1,932 4.19% (S) 88.82% (S) 3.16% 2.54%
15309 GE 1,917 5.95% 1.41% 91.44% 0.00% 0.42% 0.78%
15494 KE 1,890 8.94% (S) 84.76% (S) 3.23% 1.59%
15546 EK 1,882 65.46% 1.22% 15.57% (S) (S) 16.68%
16064 MU 1,803 5.88% 1.72% 88.74% (S) (S) 2.16%
17526 UM 1,607 1.80% 0.50% 95.08% 0.00% 1.74% 0.87%
17565 OO 1,601 3.00% (S) 92.88% (S) 2.56% 0.87%
17572 SA 1,600 45.13% 3.75% 37.88% 0.31% 3.19% 9.75%
17596 EL 1,597 13.15% 60.93% 16.47% 1.19% 5.13% 3.13%
18507 IN 1,492 4.02% 0.34% 91.35% 0.00% 1.88% 2.41%
18793 RA 1,458 13.44% 6.24% 72.50% (S) (S) 5.01%
18971 BI 1,438 5.15% 1.46% 90.75% (S) 1.32% (S)
19907 NO 1,349 14.68% 2.00% 78.80% (S) (S) 3.11%
19911 BO 1,348 33.83% 4.45% 55.64% (S) (S) 4.23%
20309 ON 1,309 8.10% 2.14% 85.18% 0.00% 2.22% 2.37%
20449 PU 1,299 4.39% (S) 75.98% (S) 3.39% 14.93%
21080 TE 1,246 5.54% (S) 87.72% (S) 2.65% 2.65%
21524 PO 1,213 10.47% (S) 80.38% (S) 2.31% 5.36%
22158 SI 1,166 8.92% 3.00% 84.91% (S) (S) 2.14%
22450 BE 1,146 22.69% 4.89% 60.82% 0.52% 2.44% 8.64%
22809 DE 1,123 26.54% 3.92% 56.81% (S) (S) 10.42%
24137 KY 1,042 2.02% 2.78% 92.13% (S) 2.02% (S)
24762 PI 1,006 11.93% 2.09% 64.61% 0.00% 2.09% 19.28%
25102 BU 989 15.47% 2.93% 62.79% (S) (S) 17.80%
25620 XI 963 1.77% (S) 96.57% (S) 0.73% 0.73%
25659 OK 961 8.01% 2.08% 85.64% 0.00% 1.35% 2.91%
25793 TY 955 10.68% 1.78% 83.14% (S) 2.93% (S)
27303 EM 885 8.70% (S) 87.34% (S) 2.49% 1.13%
28552 HY 835 17.13% 1.56% 79.04% (S) 1.92% (S)
29528 VI 799 10.39% (S) 75.59% (S) 2.63% 9.14%
29626 KA 795 14.97% 20.75% 57.23% (S) 5.41% (S)
29947 KI 784 12.37% 3.57% 81.25% (S) 1.79% (S)
29947 OM 784 5.99% 2.17% 86.73% (S) 4.08% (S)
30420 CU 768 6.77% (S) 79.82% (S) 1.30% 10.68%
30442 MI 767 16.04% 4.82% 73.40% (S) (S) 3.65%
31360 PA 739 25.98% (S) 46.14% (S) 12.86% 10.42%
31873 UN 724 7.18% (S) 83.84% (S) 3.87% 4.28%
32268 DA 714 22.27% 7.00% 63.87% (S) (S) 4.06%
32524 YO 707 6.51% 2.83% 86.42% (S) (S) 2.12%
35671 OR 630 16.35% (S) 70.63% (S) 2.06% 8.89%
36379 AI 615 4.39% (S) 82.44% (S) 8.13% 3.25%
37180 YA 600 3.50% (S) 87.83% (S) 3.33% 4.33%
38103 PE 582 21.13% 3.78% 59.62% (S) (S) 12.54%
38754 DI 570 20.70% 4.91% 68.42% (S) (S) 5.44%
39004 II 565 50.44% 26.02% 7.79% (S) (S) 13.63%
39212 VY 561 2.14% (S) 95.01% 0.00% (S) 1.96%
40610 WI 538 25.09% 12.27% 56.51% (S) 3.72% (S)
40976 AL 532 45.68% 13.35% 12.78% (S) (S) 24.62%
41501 AO 524 2.67% (S) 94.08% (S) 0.95% 2.10%
43006 UK 503 15.71% 4.17% 71.97% (S) (S) 6.76%

Table Key

To help you understand the above table, below is a description of each column and what it represents.

  • Count. Number of occurrences: Estimate of the number of people with the surname in the United States. (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy.
  • White. Non-Hispanic White Only: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "non-hispanic white" (race)
  • Black. Non-Hispanic Black Only: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "non-hispanic black" (race)
  • API. Non-Hispanic Asian & Pacific Islander Only: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "non-hispanic Asian & Pacific Islander" (race)
  • AIAN. Non-Hispanic American Indian & Alaskan Native Only: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "non-hispanic American Indian & Alaskan Native" (race)
  • 2+ Races. Non-Hispanic of 2 or More Races: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "non-hispanic two or more races" (race)
  • Hispanic. Hispanic Origin: Percentage of people with a given surname who classified themselves as "Hispanic origin" (race)

How Many 2 Letter Last Names Are There?

According to the most recent U.S. Census data, there are 168 unique 2-letter surnames.

The table above includes the top 100 names that are 2 letters long, and they are sorted by the rank given by the Census Bureau for how common each name is.

Wherever possible, we have also provided data for each name in the list on the ethnicity/ancestry of that surname.

Other Last Name Lengths

Our database contains names ranging in length from 2 to 15 letters. To find out more information about last names of different lengths you can use the following links:

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Decennial Census survey, from the United States Census Bureau.