Surname frequency distribution in the United States
1850 - 1990
The information and map/graphic presentations below were obtained
from Hammrick Software
The color of each state indicates how frequently you will find someone
with this surname in each state. For instance, if a state is colored
red, then 1 in 100 people (or more) in that state have the surname.
Similarly yellow means approximately 1 in 300 have the surname, green means
1 in 1000, and blue means 1 in 10,000 (or less).
The source of this data is the 1850 census, 1880 census, 1920 census and 1990's phone books. Note that the census data is a sampling of 1 in 100 names, so the 1990 data is (considered) the most accurate. These map representations are presented "for general interest" and are often helpful when trying to determine a starting point for genealogy projects.
1:100 census sample |
1:100 census sample |
1:100 census sample |
1:100 census sample |
1:100 census sample |
1:100 census sample |
phone book records - From the 1990 census - from a sample set of 6,290,251 "valid records" out of a "total" US population of 248,709,873 representing 88,799 unique surnames the SURNAME - "Langdon" is posessed by .003% of the US population and ranks 3,878th in terms of frequency ~7,500 "Langdon's" |
phone book records - From the 1990 census - from a sample set of 6,290,251 "valid records" out of a "total" US population of 248,709,873 representing 88,799 unique surnames the SURNAME - "Plank" is posessed by .002% of the US population and ranks 5,022nd in terms of frequency ~ 5,000 "Plank's" |