100 most common 3 letter last names in the United States

In this section we'll look at the most common 3 letter last names in the United States. Currently, there are 4,647,809 people who have a last name that is 3 letters long.

These names are taken directly from the most recent 2010 Decennial Census data.

Most popular 3 letter last name

Currently, the most popular 3 letter last name in America is Lee, with a total count of 693,023 people who have the surname. The surname Lee occurs roughly 234 times per 100,000 people in the U.S.

The table below shows the 100 most common last names that are 3 letters long, along with the number of occurrences of each name.

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

Name Count White Black API AIAN 2+ Races Hispanic
Lee 693,023 35.95% 16.33% 42.22% 0.97% 2.64% 1.89%
Kim 262,352 2.52% 0.39% 94.47% 0.02% 1.96% 0.65%
Cox 261,231 82.62% 12.07% 0.50% 0.67% 1.82% 2.33%
Fox 152,334 88.08% 6.06% 0.56% 1.03% 1.84% 2.42%
Ray 133,171 74.97% 17.54% 1.94% 0.93% 2.05% 2.56%
Day 105,091 83.08% 10.44% 1.02% 1.08% 1.97% 2.40%
May 103,306 83.55% 9.57% 1.22% 0.73% 1.89% 3.04%
Lin 79,508 1.70% 0.18% 95.85% 0.02% 1.77% 0.47%
Liu 78,370 1.79% 0.17% 95.62% 0.02% 1.86% 0.54%
Ali 60,002 17.33% 30.71% 42.91% 0.51% 5.66% 2.87%
Lam 55,554 6.84% 0.57% 87.99% 0.05% 1.99% 2.56%
Roy 53,159 75.20% 9.04% 9.69% 1.54% 1.96% 2.57%
Orr 44,388 79.42% 15.00% 0.65% 0.77% 1.96% 2.20%
Fry 38,029 91.09% 3.13% 0.55% 1.14% 1.75% 2.34%
Lim 37,021 2.86% 0.23% 92.24% 0.04% 3.04% 1.59%
Key 33,501 68.56% 24.61% 0.90% 0.99% 2.33% 2.61%
Cho 33,490 1.88% (S) 95.12% (S) 1.92% 0.80%
Ngo 33,005 0.92% (S) 96.46% (S) 1.69% 0.65%
Law 32,122 65.61% 15.63% 14.22% 0.39% 2.08% 2.07%
Tan 32,120 3.30% 0.19% 92.37% 0.11% 2.62% 1.42%
Gay 32,025 70.72% 22.51% 1.84% 0.73% 1.87% 2.32%
Han 29,847 4.24% 0.50% 92.67% 0.07% 1.70% 0.82%
Lau 29,792 16.19% 0.24% 76.07% 0.08% 3.94% 3.47%
Bui 28,919 1.71% 0.32% 95.45% 0.02% 1.63% 0.87%
Guy 28,852 67.88% 24.98% 1.01% 1.43% 2.33% 2.37%
Chu 28,508 2.61% (S) 92.14% (S) 3.30% 1.68%
Dye 28,182 83.48% 11.06% 0.54% 0.67% 1.96% 2.30%
Gil 26,112 10.52% 0.54% 1.70% 0.17% 0.23% 86.83%
Ott 25,738 94.06% 1.22% 0.56% 0.66% 1.44% 2.07%
Paz 25,574 7.43% 0.32% 2.98% 0.22% 0.43% 88.62%
Roe 25,286 90.91% 3.17% 1.23% 0.58% 1.71% 2.40%
Nix 24,786 81.05% 13.29% 0.44% 0.84% 2.07% 2.31%
Kay 24,337 85.64% 5.89% 3.47% 0.61% 1.92% 2.48%
Sun 24,058 2.59% 0.26% 94.46% 0.26% 1.67% 0.76%
Poe 23,563 80.15% 12.52% 2.32% 0.82% 2.15% 2.05%
Gee 23,241 54.31% 19.60% 20.20% 0.58% 3.01% 2.29%
Zhu 21,265 0.88% (S) 98.23% (S) 0.58% 0.16%
Ash 21,030 81.09% 13.40% 0.54% 0.51% 2.14% 2.31%
Yee 20,591 5.58% 0.58% 83.54% 0.05% 6.99% 3.26%
Lai 19,157 3.48% 0.31% 91.72% 0.04% 3.24% 1.22%
Lay 18,468 70.98% 7.57% 14.41% 1.01% 2.23% 3.80%
Cao 18,138 1.38% (S) 95.22% (S) 1.05% 2.12%
Hay 18,029 85.74% 7.14% 2.83% 0.37% 1.63% 2.30%
Mai 17,445 11.32% 0.55% 85.47% 0.11% 1.40% 1.14%
Ham 16,980 66.22% 11.61% 16.41% 0.40% 1.66% 3.69%
Hsu 16,907 2.09% (S) 93.78% (S) 3.56% 0.46%
Coe 16,819 82.78% 11.15% 1.11% 0.46% 1.94% 2.56%
Luu 15,702 1.02% 0.15% 96.48% 0.00% 1.68% 0.67%
Dow 15,472 83.14% 9.58% 1.29% 0.78% 2.00% 3.21%
Her 15,089 1.55% 0.23% 94.82% 0.04% 0.99% 2.37%
Fay 14,849 92.62% 1.70% 1.00% 0.44% 1.40% 2.84%
Rea 14,819 72.34% 0.92% 1.21% 0.59% 1.10% 23.83%
Way 14,157 80.02% 12.31% 2.51% 0.86% 1.79% 2.49%
Coy 13,875 82.79% 5.89% 0.59% 0.55% 1.96% 8.22%
Ivy 13,524 55.32% 38.52% 0.58% 0.50% 2.85% 2.24%
Joy 13,413 78.15% 8.41% 7.75% 0.63% 2.27% 2.80%
Tam 13,327 5.55% 0.55% 90.16% 0.05% 2.31% 1.39%
Yoo 13,225 2.66% (S) 95.49% (S) 1.06% 0.59%
Ely 13,130 88.06% 6.70% 0.66% 0.57% 1.71% 2.30%
Woo 13,003 4.65% 0.44% 86.86% 0.08% 4.81% 3.16%
Foy 12,952 71.73% 22.44% 0.82% 0.47% 1.93% 2.62%
Pan 12,664 2.61% 0.46% 94.02% 0.07% 1.63% 1.22%
Gao 12,172 1.22% (S) 97.39% (S) 0.62% 0.41%
Nye 12,167 93.79% 0.86% 1.13% 0.59% 1.50% 2.14%
Sam 12,053 12.06% 27.84% 33.73% 17.93% 3.07% 5.37%
Guo 12,048 1.10% 0.32% 97.77% 0.00% 0.66% 0.17%
Low 12,032 61.77% 1.70% 28.82% 0.36% 4.31% 3.03%
New 11,903 88.62% 4.39% 1.49% 0.86% 1.82% 2.82%
Cyr 11,829 95.44% 0.24% 0.58% 0.41% 1.45% 1.88%
Vue 11,717 0.45% (S) 97.83% (S) 1.05% 0.57%
Rao 11,672 17.02% 0.27% 78.55% 0.16% 2.91% 1.09%
Lor 11,479 1.40% (S) 96.59% (S) 1.14% 0.60%
Yan 11,354 2.97% (S) 94.06% (S) 1.07% 1.33%
Dao 11,211 1.71% 0.88% 94.37% 0.08% 1.92% 1.03%
Noe 11,182 90.87% 0.78% 1.82% 0.55% 1.71% 4.27%
Moe 11,150 85.08% 2.92% 7.45% 0.39% 2.22% 1.94%
Pak 10,846 3.78% (S) 92.02% (S) 3.10% 0.88%
Van 10,798 22.18% 6.30% 67.23% 0.39% 2.10% 1.81%
Eng 10,682 13.50% (S) 77.38% (S) 5.96% 2.79%
Ahn 10,567 3.44% 0.14% 93.82% 0.00% 2.21% 0.39%
Jin 10,432 1.78% 0.19% 96.30% 0.19% 1.13% 0.40%
Tom 10,350 19.02% 1.57% 52.53% 16.63% 6.91% 3.33%
Box 10,098 82.98% 10.98% 0.60% 1.32% 1.87% 2.25%
Son 10,094 9.52% 1.33% 82.80% 0.20% 1.93% 4.22%
Shi 10,055 1.83% 0.30% 96.86% 0.06% 0.46% 0.50%
Luo 10,005 0.86% (S) 97.57% (S) 0.68% 0.44%
Jay 9,852 78.60% 9.22% 4.35% 2.04% 2.77% 3.01%
Dix 9,748 76.05% 19.00% 0.70% 0.31% 1.73% 2.22%
Cha 9,732 2.09% (S) 93.52% (S) 2.07% 1.82%
Xie 9,716 0.72% 0.22% 98.19% (S) 0.66% (S)
Ong 9,584 7.32% (S) 87.39% (S) 3.07% 1.88%
Wei 9,578 2.89% 0.42% 94.46% 0.00% 1.80% 0.44%
Joe 9,280 12.26% 24.98% 23.00% 33.79% 2.97% 3.00%
Hoy 9,196 85.30% 4.86% 4.67% 0.32% 1.61% 3.25%
Lea 9,180 72.43% 16.38% 4.65% 0.93% 2.33% 3.28%
See 9,081 73.59% 1.68% 19.51% 0.75% 2.00% 2.46%
Erb 9,060 96.08% 0.33% 0.49% 0.42% 1.10% 1.58%
Kee 9,049 51.25% 21.79% 10.84% 10.66% 2.69% 2.76%
Rau 8,961 90.97% 1.70% 3.11% 0.36% 1.64% 2.22%
Yun 8,933 3.01% (S) 93.45% (S) 2.37% 0.86%

Last names by length

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:

Last names by letter

To find all of the most popular last names by starting letter, you can choose a letter from the following list:

Last names by ancestry and letter

If you want to get even more specific, we also have pages that will let you find last names beginning with A (or any other letter) based on a specific ancestry.

(You must really be into last names to get this far down the page!)

The links below will let you research white last names starting with each letter of the alphabet.

The links below will let you research black last names starting with each letter of the alphabet.

The links below will let you research Hispanic last names starting with each letter of the alphabet.

The links below will let you research Asian and Pacific Islander last names starting with each letter of the alphabet.

The links below will let you research American Indian and Alaskan Native last names starting with each letter of the alphabet.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of last names was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve our data, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"100 most common 3 letter last names in the United States". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 3, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/3-letter-last-names/.

"100 most common 3 letter last names in the United States". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/3-letter-last-names/. Accessed 3 October, 2024

100 most common 3 letter last names in the United States. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/3-letter-last-names/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.