Family names can be unique or come in large numbers. In different countries some names are the most popular. Here is the listing (alphabetical by country names):
(on January 1, 2002)
Argentina
Belgium
These are all names of Flemish origin; the most popular French name is Dubois (about 11,000).
The following list is for England, Wales, and the Isle of Man, and is based on a survey of the National Health Service Central Register[1]:
Main article: Indian family name
Bulgaria
China
Main article: Chinese family name
(王) Wang2
Estonia
France
Germany
Müller (9,5%)
United Kingdom
India
Ireland
Murphy (#1)
Main article: Japanese family name
Israel
Japan
Korea
Main article: Korean name#Family names
Korean surnames have a variety in how they are Romanized.
Sources: Institut de la statistique du Québec, Quelques Statistiques sur les Noms de Famille and Les 6 000 premiers noms de famille par ordre alphabétique, Québec
The Netherlands
De Jong 55,256
Norway
Names ending in sen are originally patronymic.
Source: Statistics NorwayNuevo León, (Mexico)
Source: GARCÍA, Miriam Para regios...los Martínez Periódico El Norte 18 de marzo de 2003.
Poland
Quebec, Canada
The 50 most popular surnames in Quebec
Percentage of total population: 17.82%Romania
Russia
Source 1000 sirnames of Krasnoyarsk
Serbia and Montenegro
Spain
García - 1,378,000 people (3.48%)
Sweden
The most common names in Sweden are originally patronymic, which means that the son of e.g. Karl received the surname Karlsson (Karl's son). The daughter received the name Karlsdotter (Karl's daughter). Since the 19th century these names are inherited exactly as in e.g. USA or Great Britain and women also receive "son-names". Compare this with the "mac-names" in Scotland. Even though these "son-names" are the most common names in Sweden, a majority of the Swedes have other family names such as Lindberg (linden/lime mountain), Sjöman (Seaman) and Nyman (Newman), but because of the greater diversity of these names each specific name is less common than most "son-names". Noble persons in Sweden often, but not always, have surnames refering to their coat of arms or non-swedish names.
United States
Smith (1.006%, #1)
Vietnam
See also