In this section we'll look at the most popular black last names in the United States. These names are people who self-identified as "Black" in the Decennial Census survey.

The most recent statistics we have for these black last names are from the 2010 census.

You can use the links below to view more common black last names. This page is currently showing names ranked from 1 to 2000.

Most common black last names: 1-2000 | 2001-4000

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Table key

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

1. This is the total number of occurrences for the name in the latest US Decennial Census survey.
2. This is the total number of people who self-identified as "Black".
3. This is the percentage of people who self-identified as "Black".
4. This is our unofficial rank of the last name for people who self-identified as "Black".
5. This is the official U.S. rank of the last name according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

You can find explanations for each of the table columns below, or use the following links to view more last names for different ancestries.

• White last names
• Black last names
• Hispanic last names
• Asian & Pacific Islander last names
• American Indian & Alaskan Native last names
• Two or more race last names

The history of black surnames in America

If you're someone who identifies as black or African-American, chances are you've had a hard time tracing your family history. This is because most of the common black surnames in the United States have a dark past.

It isn't just one sad story, but rather multiple, which led to the most common black surnames getting their spot on this list. And unlike other cultures, it can be almost impossible to trace black heritage past a certain point in history.

Where did black (African-American) last names come from?

When researching surnames, you'll find that the vast majority of them worldwide come from patronymic origins, meaning when surnames were invented, many people took the first name of their father. This is true for many American and Asian surnames.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case with African-American/Black surnames. In ancient Africa, surnames weren't common. Rather, Africans were given an extensive first name that characterized who they were. When the Europeans settled the continent starting in the 1600s, they brought with them the European idea of a surname.

Africans, when pressured or labeled by Europeans, frequently took on the surname relating to their geographic origin, occupation, or based on a personal characteristic. The African continent is also known for a unique type of last name called a praise name, which is a surname that names an admirable trait. This is where the surname 'Llunga' comes from, which is a Bantu surname meaning 'forgiving.'

But the Europeans didn't settle the entirety of the continent, meaning many people living in rural areas lived without last names for centuries. There are even some peoples today, specifically of the old tribal cultures, like the Masai, who still do not give themselves surnames.

Why don't black people in America have African surnames?

Now if you look at common African surnames, you'll find that none of them are on the above list. This is because, during the years of the American slave trade, if an African slave had a last name, it was removed during transport.

Most of the time, when slaves were sold to Americans, the bill of sale would simply list the number of slaves, omitting first names even. Many of the cargo slips from the time simply labeled the large number of slaves they carried as cargo rather than acknowledging them as human beings.

When these slaves arrived in America and were sold off to their new owners, these owners would often give them a single name or sometimes both a first and last name. These last names and single names were frequently based on a physical characteristic or the name of the owner who purchased them. This led to a wide expansion of last names like Bowen, Smith, White, and Black.

Additionally, this led to the rise of last names with an 's' added at the end to show possession, such as Williams and Jacobs which were likely originally William's and Jacob's to show ownership of the slave.

By the time emancipation happened in 1862, many of the slaves who were liberated weren't even the ones who were brought over on the boat, rather, they had been born into slavery and were either one or two generations removed. For this reason, they frequently didn't know their African surname, if they had one at all.

And because parents and children were separated there was no one to ask for information if an individual wanted to return to being called by their African surname. In the rare case that a slave did remember his African surname during Emancipation, he or she frequently kept the American single name given to him, using it as a surname.

African families, when arriving in America were split up at auction, and oftentimes, the only information they had about where their children/parents/cousins went was the last name of the person they were sold to. Thus, they kept the American given last name in hopes of finding and reuniting with their family whom they had been separated from at auction.

How have black surnames changed over time?

After Emancipation, African-Americans had the opportunity to change their surname, and many did. Some took on biblical names such as James. Others named themselves after famous historical figures who they knew of, like Abraham (Abraham Lincoln) or Washington. Thus, this makes it difficult to trace an African-American surname prior to 1862.

Even the former slaves who kept their former master's name ran into other issues. Many former slaves had literacy issues, so when they were told to write their name for the first time, they spelled it differently than it was originally spelled. This led to spelling changes in names such as changing Bowen to Bowean. This is also likely when slave titles like William's became Williams, as the possession aspect of the name was removed.

It's important to note, that while most black people came to America as African-Americans during slavery, this is not the only way black people came to the country. In the modern-day, there are many Africans who immigrate, as well as those who come from the Island nations like Haiti and Jamaica.

These immigrants can sometimes have more ethnic-sounding last names, like 'Asare'(pronounced A-sorry), depending on where they are from, as some African countries, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, never saw massive European settlement.

Others, you may be surprised to find out, have the same last names as many Americans of British origin, as the Europeans settled heavily in places like Ghana and South Africa generations before the slave trade began. These last names are usually occupation-based, as the Europeans typically gave the natives occupation-based surnames when registering them for census and tax purposes.

Therefore someone with the last name Smith in America could be of British descent, or perhaps from a long family of smiths in South Africa who immigrated to the US in the 1950s. It is also possible that the individual is a descendant of a slave who belonged to a man named Smith who came here against his will in the 1860s. There is simply no way to tell when it comes to Black/African American surnames.

Can you tell someone is black by their surname?

In America, you will likely be unable to tell anyone's race based on their surname. Not only is America a huge melting pot of cultures, but it has been subject to many events over the years which has led to many people of various races voluntarily changing their surnames.

The three most common black surnames, Williams, Johnson, and Smith, are also the three most common surnames in the United States. Meaning someone with any of these three last names has just as much of a chance as being a black individual as being someone who is white.

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.

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