With a 6.3% increase in the last name, there 375,576 Jacksons identified in 2010. This is an 8.1% increase from 2000 where they came across approximately 58,000 less Williams. Before then, most names were heavily influenced by European-American culture. remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. EMBED. It is also interesting to notice last names that are or are not shared among the different groups. There are over 2.4 million African-American and Caribbean people with that last name. Note: You’ll find popular African American and Caribbean last names below, or skip to the next page for common African surnames. I decided to publish this adapted "chart" about surname rankings in the United States after publishing a pancocojams post about Elmore James' Blues song "The Sky Is Crying"*. Of course, not all African-Americans share the names in this generator, but the names in this generator are pretty unique to African-American culture, so you'd rarely find them anywhere else. Most Popular African American Last Names – Williams; It is popularly agreed that the name Williams is the most common last name in the circle of African Americans. Every ten years, there’s a U.S. Census and we can use this information to figure out just how many people have the same last name. I have compiled name lists that can be linked to through this page. EMBED (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item tags) Want more? Some African-Americans that were made to pick cotton, have last names such as Cotton, reflecting the occupation. Nigeria, a beautiful, diverse, African country home to the Niger River, and a rich history of culture and tradition. 131 views. There’s actress Naomie Harris and rapper T.I. Adébáyọ̀ Origin: Nigerian (Yoruba) Meaning: ‘He came in a joyful time’ or ‘the king/crown/royalty … Racking your brain for some people with the last name Harris? Pronunciation : case sensitive: see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds; sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: *lee matches names which end with the sound lee _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation While many Black Americans use names that are popular with wider American culture, a number of specific naming trends have emerged within African-American culture. Occurrences / 100,000 people: The number of occurrences of a given surname per 100,000 in the United States. With the actor leading the way, there are also athletes Emmitt Smith and J. R. Smith on the list. Image: Pretoria, South Africa. Cumulative proportion / 100,000: the proportion of people in a random selection of 100,000 who would have a given surname. According to US census records, Williams is the 16th most common last name associated with African Americans. However, less than half of the people with the last name Williams are black or African American. (s) means the data was suppressed for privacy. The data, which may include people who identified themselves as African-American, African, or other ethnic or racial groups, is derived from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. There are around 624,252 people with this last name, a 7.1% increase from the previous decade. – Johnson; The next most common African American … You could probably easily name someone with the last name Brown. While there is Beverly Johnson and Magic Johnson, we bet you didn’t know that Whoopi Goldberg’s real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 1960s. Between African-Americans, Caribbean, and African people, here are the most common last names. If you’re not African, it’s easy to think that the same last name isn’t common. The Unknown History Behind African American Last Names The history behind African American surnames isn’t actually that well known, and it is a little upsetting. An "(S)" appears where the percentages were suppressed for confidentiality. Some names you might recognize with the same last name are: Isiah Thomas, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. This is why you hardly see an African man bearing a Western name as his last name. In 2001, I began a process of transcribing names of some of the largest slaveholders and matching the surnames with numbers of African Americans on the 1870 census. That’s why this last name was ranked 5th during the 2010 census and ranks 4th overall. There’s actor James Earl Jones, music producer Quincy Jones, TV personality Star Jones, and more! Even so, in the total general population, Williams ranks as the third most common last name overall. Over time, African Americans … To start, simply click on the button to generate 10 random names. Of course, we have the Jackson family with Michael and Janet leading the way. In total, there are just fewer than 2 million black people with the last name Johnson with a 6.6% increase within the decade. African American last names are connected to a long history of slavery. As crude as this will come across, slave owners did not give their last names to their slaves, any more than pet owners today bestow their last names on Fido or Puff. Most common last names for Blacks in the U.S. During the last census, this name was the most common with over 774,000. whose name is Clifford Harris Jr. Rounding out this top 10 list, we have Robinson. For instance, America has more black or African American people with the last name Williams than any other last name. The following are among the most common last names of African Americans: Williams. Also included are percentages listed for each name for the four largest ethnic groups: Non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks or African-American, Hispanics of any race, and non-Hispanic Asians, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander. The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes". Number of occurrences among people self-identifying as 'black', % of people with surname self-identifying as 'black'. Surname: State: County: Researcher: A : ADAMS. Fort Bend Co. Tonya Smith: ALLEN: Missouri: Macon Co. Anitra Lane What is it with the last name Jackson that many of them are famous? 150 Unique and Most Common African Last Names (Surnames) Culture. For many years, Williams has remained a common surname for a person of African American descent. Number of occurrences: Estimate of the number of people with the surname in the United States. Surnames, on the other hand, are shared with most other American groups, which is largely because of their history. African American Last Names Item Preview African American Last Names.jpg . 1 comment: Azizi Powell May 4, 2017 at 5:31 PM. How African American families got their surnames is often misunderstood, affecting your ability to connect into your Irish ancestor. The last name Jackson definitely isn’t as popular as the other names we’ve previously mentioned. When it comes to surnames, there are some that are very clearly unique, but then there are others that you could probably attribute to 2 or 3 people that you know. One of the biggest increases, the last name saw a 7.3% increase over a 10 year period. African-American Surnames +3 votes . The popular notion is that the slaves took the surname of the last master. Today we’re going to look at some of the most popular and common black last names around. Texas. Adébáyọ̀ Origin: Nigerian (Yoruba) Meaning: ‘He came in a joyful time’ or ‘the king/crown/royalty … Here are the Top 10 names that came up during the 2010 census. You’d be wrong; there are thousands and thousands of Africans who share the same name. The data, which may include people who identified themselves as African-American, African, or other ethnic or racial groups, is derived from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Thomas is another last name that wouldn’t rank in the top 10 when considering the entire population. The majority of African American names have a great history and are also shared in the family. When it comes to last names, Smith is the most popular of last names among black people. African-American names are an integral part of African-American tradition. Over several hundred years, borders have been made, changed and broken, making family history difficult to trace. List of African Last Names After emancipation, many free men and women adopted the surnames of their former owners as their own. List: Most common black or African-American last names (Non-Hispanic) Most common … You can probably name a ton of people with the last name Williams. Abiodun: Hailing from the ethnic group Yoruba, Abiodun is often used both as a surname and a first … https://www.thoughtco.com/common-us-surnames-and-their-meanings-1422658 There are slightly more Browns and Jones with 1.43 million people. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! Even so, Smith ranked third in the last census and between 2000 and 2010, there was a 6.9% increase in the last name. Pronunciation : case sensitive: see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds; sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: *lee matches names which end with the sound lee _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation In 2010, Johnson came in 2nd place, and that’s its same rank within the entire population of African-Americans and Caribbean people. 50 most common last names in America Posted Oct 02, 2019 US actor and cast member Will Smith arrives to the promotional event for the movie Gemini Man … When they were enslaved, African Americans were given last names that belonged to their “owners”. From a census data conducted recently in the United States of America, it was made known that there are over 700,000 African Americans with the surname Williams. 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