List of most common surnames in South America

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This is a list of the most common surnames in South America.

Contents

Argentina

Most surnames are of Spanish, Italian, French, German, Irish, and Polish origin, in that order.

RankSurname[ citation needed ]Pop.Pop. %
1 González 568,2401.472%
2 Rodríguez 483,2121.252%
3 Fernández 426,2531.104%
4 García 411,4621.066%
5 López 393,7041.020%
6 Martínez 346,2710.897%
7 Pérez 336,0940.870%
8 Álvarez 294,5270.763%
9 Gómez 290,8210.753%
10 Sánchez 271,3510.703%
11 Díaz 256,3970.664%
12 Vásquez 187,9740.487%
13 Castro 173,0550.448%
14 Romero 166,4970.431%
15 Suárez 160,4830.415%
16 Blanco 154,2480.399%
17 Ruiz 140,8290.364%
18 Alonso 135,8930.352%
19 Torres 133,5990.346%
20 Domínguez 132,6250.343%
21 Gutiérrez 130,6070.338%
22 Sosa 129,3720.335%
23 Iglesias 126,8220.328%
24 Giménez 125,0090.323%
25 Ramírez 124,5500.322%
26 Martín 123,9380.321%
27 Varela 119,6740.310%
28 Ramos 118,8250.307%
29 Núñez 118,1060.306%
30 Rossi 116,7750.302%
31 Silva 107,8350.279%
32 Méndez 104,6680.271%
33 Hernández 104,5810.270%
34 Flores 100,0920.261%
35 Pereyra 99,8840.258%
36 Ferrari 98,7610.255%
37 Ortiz 96,7610.250%
38 Medina 96,2280.249%
39 Benítez 95,6280.247%
40 Herrera 94,7810.245%
41 Arias 94,5370.245%
42 Acosta 92,7070.240%
43 Moreno 92,1270.238%
44 Aguirre 91,3650.236%
45 Otero 89,5830.232%
46 Cabrera 88,3980.229%
47 Rey 88,3940.229%
48 Rojas 81,3430.210%
49 Vidal 80,2330.207%
50 Molina 80,0500.207%
51 Russo 79,8820.206%
52 Paz 75,3650.195%
53 Vega 74,1070.192%
54 Costa 73,9320.191%
55 Bruno 73,9070.191%
56 Romano 73,4580.190%
57 Morales 71,5870.185%
58 Ríos 71,5340.185%
59 Miranda 70,7130.183%
60 Muñoz 70,0920.181%
61 Franco 70,0550.181%
62 Castillo 69,7200.180%
63 Campos 69,4470.179%
64 Bianchi 68,5100.177%
65 Luna 66,7630.172%
66 Correa 66,5350.172%
67 Ferreyra 66,4610.172%
68 Navarro 66,4570.172%
69 Quiroga 66,1380.171%
70 Colombo 65,3750.169%
71 Cohen 63,5750.164%
72 Pereyra 63,3670.163%
73 Vera 63,2260.163%
74 Lorenzo 63,1570.163%
75 Gil 62,7270.162%
76 Santos 60,5800.156%
77 Delgado 59,3330.154%
78 Godoy 58,9560.152%
79 Rivas 58,8110.151%
80 Rivero 58,6040.151%
81 Gallo 57,9900.149%
82 Peralta 57,1920.148%
83 Soto 55,6330.144%
84 Figueroa 55,5150.143%
85 Juárez 55,3100.143%
86 Marino 54,8060.142%
87 Ponce 54,0090.139%
88 Calvo 52,2820.135%
89 Ibáñez 51,9720.134%
90 Cáceres 51,4930.133%
91 Carrizo 50,6570.131%
92 Vargas 50,6130.131%
93 Mendoza 50,5880.131%
94 Aguilar 49,7170.128%
95 Ledesma 49,6450.128%
96 Guzmán 49,5430.128%
97 Soria 49,2910.127%
98 Villalba 48,6020.125%
99Prieto48,3550.125%
100 Maldonado 47,3440.122%
Top 10011,632,32030.093%
Total pop. (2005 est.)38,592.150100.000%

Brazil

Most of the surnames of the Brazilian population have a Portuguese origin, due to Portuguese colonization in the country (it is estimated that 80% of the Brazilian population has at least one Portuguese ancestor), while other South American countries were largely colonized by the Spanish. However, due to historical immigration, there are also surnames of African, Arabic, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish origin. 2010 data:

RankSurname[ citation needed ]Share of Brazilian populationPop.Origin
1 Silva 10.5%20,882,120Portuguese
2 Santos 6.8%13,433,982Portuguese/Spanish
3 Sousa 4.9%9,810,832Portuguese
4 Oliveira 3.1%6,209,493Portuguese
5 Pereira 2.9%5,892,937Portuguese
6 Lima 2.5%5,007,393Portuguese
7 Carvalho 2.33%4,630,387Portuguese
8 Ferreira 2.29%4,590,010Portuguese
9 Rodrigues 2.27%4,510,002Portuguese/Spanish
10 Almeida 2.16%4,393,398Portuguese
11 Costa 1.94%3,905,800Portuguese
12 Gomes 1.92%3,848,000Portuguese/Spanish
13 Martins 1.83%3,650,200Portuguese
14 Araújo 1.69%3,320,780Portuguese
15 Melo 1.62%3,209,000Portuguese
16 Barbosa 1.52%3,040,300Portuguese/Spanish
17 Ribeiro 1.503%3,010,000Portuguese
18 Alves 1.48%2,960,500Portuguese/Spanish
19 Cardoso 1.41%2,830,120Portuguese
20 Schmitz or Schmidt 1.33%2,673,000German
21 Rocha 1.27%2,540,600Portuguese
22 Correia, Correa 1.25%2,505,070Portuguese/Spanish
23 Dias 1.23%2,467,000Portuguese/Spanish
24 Teixeira 1.2%2,408,500Portuguese
25 Fernandes 1.195%2,379,700Portuguese/Spanish
26 Azevedo 1.192%2,370,000Portuguese
27 Cavalcante or Cavalcanti 1.188%2,366,300Italian
28 Montes 1.183%2,362,000Portuguese/Spanish
29 Morais 1.177%2,354,500Portuguese
30 Gonçalves 1.174%2,348,000Portuguese/Spanish
Top 3064.6%128,695,910—

Chile

All surnames are Spanish in origin, with quite a few of them being Basque (e.g. Araya or Zúñiga).

#Either 1st or
2nd surname		Persons [1]
1 González 741,388
2 Muñoz 578,673
3 Rojas 413,897
4 Díaz 410,802
5 Pérez 326,867
6 Soto 298,062
7 Contreras 276,887
8 Silva 259,950
9 Martínez 252,966
10 Sepúlveda 251,078
11 Morales 248,448
12 Rodríguez 243,695
13 López 240,181
14 Fuentes 228,609
15 Hernández 226,848
16 Torres 226,480
17 Araya 224,232
18 Flores 221,231
19 Espinoza 219,375
20 Valenzuela 215,025
21 Castillo 213,321
22 Ramírez 211,191
23 Reyes 208,752
24 Gutiérrez 201,734
25 Castro 199,508
26 Vargas 198,471
27 Álvarez 193,002
28 Vásquez 189,946
29 Tapia 179,905
30 Fernández 179,246
31 Sánchez 178,615
32 Carrasco 172,877
33 Gómez 172,758
34 Cortés 171,370
35 Herrera 170,309
36 Núñez 165,806
37 Jara 161,085
38 Vergara 155,118
39 Rivera 147,835
40 Figueroa 145,460
41 Riquelme 143,590
42 García 142,002
43 Miranda 138,939
44 Bravo 138,392
45 Vera 137,646
46 Molina 131,094
47 Vega 128,132
48 Campos 126,260
49 Sandoval 125,640
50 Orellana 123,619
51 Zúñiga 120,757
52 Olivares 120,074
53 Alarcón 118,019
54 Gallardo 117,752
55 Ortiz 117,228
56 Garrido 115,109
57 Salazar 113,881
58 Guzmán 109,922
59 Henríquez 109,364
60 Saavedra 108,702
61 Navarro 107,897
62 Aguilera 107,864
63 Parra 106,100
64 Romero 105,597
65 Aravena 105,441
66 Pizarro 105,352
67 Godoy 103,887
68 Peña 103,377
69 Cáceres 102,830
70 Leiva 99,890
71 Escobar 97,979
72 Yáñez 96,589
73 Valdés 96,528
74 Vidal 96,037
75 Salinas 94,110
76 Cárdenas 93,925
77 Jiménez 92,032
78 Ruiz 91,539
79 Lagos 91,024
80 Maldonado 89,091
81 Bustos 88,445
82 Medina 87,578
83 Pino 86,295
84 Palma 82,735
85 Moreno 82,548
86 Sanhueza 82,383
87 Carvajal 81,785
88 Navarrete 81,729
89 Sáez 80,938
90 Alvarado 79,985
91 Donoso 79,855
92 Poblete 79,248
93 Bustamante 78,732
94 Toro 78,659
95 Ortega 78,086
96 Venegas 76,900
97 Guerrero 76,823
98 Paredes 75,825
99 Farías 75,242
100 San Martín 74,575
Top 10015,802,580
#1st surname % of
population [2]
1 González 4.7
2 Muñoz 3.7
3 Rojas 2.6
4 Díaz 2.6
5 Pérez 2.1
6 Soto 1.9
7 Contreras 1.8
8 Silva 1.6
9 Martínez 1.6
10 Sepúlveda 1.6
Top 1024.2

Note: The source (Civil Registry and Identification Service) does not mention the reference year (it was published in 2008) or whether the count includes only the first surname or both surnames (Chile uses two surnames, but the second one is rarely mentioned). It is assumed the first table refers to both surnames (it is unknown if people having the same first and second surname are counted once or twice) and the second table to the first surname only. It is also unclear whether Chileans living abroad were counted, although it is probable that those that were born in Chile were included, as they were registered at birth.

Colombia

All names in the list are of Spanish origin (2010 data).

#SurnamePeople
1 Rodríguez 707,789
2 Gómez 537,843
3 González 531,484
4 Martínez 530,721
5 García 524,835
6 López 509,880
7 Hernández 454,471
8 Sánchez 449,750
9 Ramírez 427,404
10 Pérez 418,660
11 Díaz 388,419
12 Muñoz 293,759
13 Rojas 286,038
14 Moreno 265,374
15 Jiménez 261,391

Source: National Civil Registry (2010) [3]

Guyana

All surnames are of Indian (of both the Hindu and Muslim faiths) or English origin.

Rank [4] Surname
1 Persaud
2 Singh
3 Williams
4 Khan
5 Thomas
6 Joseph
7 Henry
8 James
9 Mohamed
10 Smith

Paraguay

The list of most common surnames in Paraguay, reflected in the national voters register, shows the influence of Castilian Spanish in the Paraguayan society.

Eight of the top 11 surnames end with "ez", the distinctive suffix of Castilian family names. The suffix "ez" means "son of"; thus, González means "son of Gonzalo", Benítez is "son of Benito" and Martínez means "son of Martín". This is similar to the suffix "son" in English (Johnson, "son of John", Jackson, "son of Jack") and to "ic" or "ich" of Slavic names such as Ivanovich ("son of Ivan").

Rank [5] %SurnameOrigin
16.62 González Spanish
24.84 Benítez Spanish
34.18 Martínez Spanish
43.13 López Spanish
52.61 Giménez Spanish
62.54 Vera Spanish
72.08 Duarte Spanish
82.05 Ramírez Spanish
92.01 Villalba Spanish
101.94 Fernández Spanish
111.81 Gómez Spanish
121.78 Acosta Spanish
131.76 Rojas Spanish
141.69 Ortiz Spanish
151.68 Cáceres Spanish
161.58 Rodríguez Spanish
171.57 Ruiz Spanish
181.54 Núñez Spanish
191.48 Ayala Spanish
201.46 Báez Spanish
211.39 Galeano Spanish
221.34 Herrera Spanish
231.27 Franco Spanish
241.25 Torres Spanish
251.25 Cardozo Spanish

All surnames are of Spanish origin, except when noted.

Peru

All surnames are of Spanish origin, except when noted.

Rank [6] % (of the sample)Surname
12.175 Quispe (Quechuan surname)
22.144 Flores
32.031 Sánchez
41.987 Rodríguez
51.948 García
61.66 Rojas
71.456 González
81.434 Díaz
91.412 Chávez
101.403 Torres
111.395 Ramírez
121.373 Mendoza
131.364 Ramos
141.351 López
151.26 Castillo
161.26 Espinoza
171.172 Vásquez
181.076 Huamán (Quechuan surname)
191.072 Pérez
201.068 Vargas
211.042 Gutiérrez
220.985 Fernández
230.981 Castro
240.928 Mamani (Aymara surname)
250.928 Ruíz
260.854 Romero
270.846 Martínez
280.832 Morales
290.824 Reyes
300.802 Salazar

Suriname

Rank [7] Surname
1 Lin
2 Pinas
3 Wong
4 Chin
5 Mohan
6 Kalloe
7 Singh
8 Lie
9 van Dijk
10 Tjin
11 Kluivert
12 Semil
13 Sabajo

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Chile</span>

Chile's 2017 census reported a population of 17,574,003 people. Its rate of population growth has been decreasing since 1990, due to a declining birth rate. By 2050 the population is expected to reach approximately 20.2 million people, at which it is projected to either stagnate or begin declining. About 85% of the country's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in Greater Santiago. The largest agglomerations according to the 2002 census are Greater Santiago with 5.6 million people, Greater Concepción with 861,000 and Greater Valparaíso with 824,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Name of the Spanish language</span>

The Spanish language has two names: español and castellano. Spanish speakers from different countries or backgrounds can show a preference for one term or the other, or use them indiscriminately, but political issues or common usage might lead speakers to prefer one term over the other. This article identifies the differences between those terms, the countries or backgrounds that show a preference for one or the other, and the implications the choice of words might have for a native Spanish speaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">González (surname)</span> Surname list

González is a Spanish surname, the second most common in Spain, as well as one of the five most common surnames in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela, and one of the most common surnames in the entire Spanish-speaking world. As of 2017, it is the 13th most common surname in the United States.

Spanish names are the traditional way of identifying, and the official way of registering, a person in Spain and Hispanic America. They are composed of a given name and two surnames. Traditionally, the first surname is the father's first surname, and the second is the mother's first surname. Since 1999, the order of the surnames in a family in Spain is decided when registering the first child, but the traditional order is nearly universally chosen.

Díaz is a common surname of Spanish origin with multiple meanings in multiple languages. First found in the Kingdom of Castile, where the name originated in the Visigoth period, the name accounts for about 0.17% of the Spanish population, ranking as the 14th-most frequently found surname in both 1999 and 2004.

Guzmán or de Guzmán is a Spanish surname. The Portuguese language equivalent is Gusmão.

The Basque diaspora is the name given to describe people of Basque origin living outside their traditional homeland on the borders between Spain and France. Many Basques have left the Basque Country for other parts of the globe for economic and political reasons, with a substantial population in Colombia.

Jiménez is a patronymic surname of Iberian origin, first appearing in the Basque lands.

Báez or Baez is a surname of Hispanic origin meaning "son of Pelayo". As of 2008, it was the 20th most popular surname in Paraguay.

Portuguese and Spanish, although closely related Romance languages, differ in many aspects of their phonology, grammar, and lexicon. Both belong to a subset of the Romance languages known as West Iberian Romance, which also includes several other languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible to some degree. A 1949 study by Italian-American linguist Mario Pei, analyzing the degree of difference from a language's parent by comparing phonology, inflection, syntax, vocabulary, and intonation, indicated the following percentages : In the case of Spanish it was 20%, the third closest Romance language to Latin, only behind Sardinian and Italian. Portuguese was 31%, making it the second furthest language from Latin after French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basque surnames</span> Surname with a Basque-language origin or a long, identifiable tradition in the Basque Country

Basque surnames are surnames with Basque-language origins or a long, identifiable tradition in the Basque Country. They can be divided into two main types, patronymic and non-patronymic.

Many Basques arrived in Chile in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th century from their homeland in northern Spain and parts of southwestern France, as conquistadors, soldiers, sailors, merchants, priests and labourers. Due to their traditional hard work and entrepreneurship, many of them rose to the top of the social scale and intermarried into the Chilean elites of Castilian descent, giving birth to the new Basque-Chilean aristocracy in Chile. This union is the basis of the Chilean elite of today. But also, they immensely contributed to the ethnic make up of the bulk of the Chilean population. The Basque settlers also intermarried into the Mestizo and Castizo population of central Chile in the middle of the colonial period to form the large Criollo population that exists in Chile today; Castizos create modern middle and lower classes. Many years after the first waves of settlers, thousands of Basque refugees fleeing Spanish Civil War in 1939 also settled and have many descendants in the country and have even intermarried with Spanish ethnic groups other than Castilians, and other European ethnic groups. An estimated 1.6 million (10%) to 5 million (30%) Chileans have a surname of Basque origin. This figure is to the least as the number of Basque descendence is great and plentiful. If one were to compare the large wave of Basques that fled to the population in the Basque Country you can see that in a way ethnically speaking Chile has more Basque blood than the country of origin.

Salazar is a surname meaning old hall. The name originates from the town of the same name: Salazar, in northern Burgos, Castile, Spain. Although northern Burgos is not currently a Basque-speaking region, the language was spoken there when the surname appeared there during the early Middle Ages.

The naming customs of Hispanic America are similar to the Spanish naming customs practiced in Spain, with some modifications to the surname rules. Many Hispanophones in the countries of Spanish-speaking America have two given names, plus like in Spain, a paternal surname and a maternal surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish diaspora</span> Emigrants from Spain and their descendants

The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain. In the Americas, the term may refer to those of Spanish nationality living there; "Hispanic" is usually a more appropriate term to describe the general Spanish-speaking populations of the Americas together with those in Spain. The diaspora is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire. Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, Belize, Haiti, United States, Canada, the Philippines and the rest of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pazmiño</span> Place

Pazmiño is a Spanish language surname of Sephardi judaeo-converso origin, and originating in its present-day form in what is today Ecuador, formerly the Royal Audience of Quito.

References

  1. ↑ "TRES MILLONES DE CHILENOS FIGURAN CON LOS APELLIDOS MÁS COMUNES". Terra Networks. 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "González, Muñoz y Rojas son los apellidos más comunes en Chile" (PDF). La Tercera . 15 November 2009. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Los apellidos más comunes en Colombia Archived 29 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine , Nuestra Huella, número 46, 1 December 2010
  4. ↑ "The Top 10 most common surnames in Guyana" . Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Los apellidos más comunes en el padrón que se usará en abril" (PDF) (in Spanish). ultimahora.com. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  6. ↑ "Apellidos de los Peruanos" (in Spanish). DePeru. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "The Top 10 most common surnames in Suriname" . Retrieved 28 February 2016.
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