The latest birth statistics from the UK government and long-term trends show that, next year, for the first time in a millennium, ‘Smith’ will no longer be the most common surname in England and Wales.
The surname ‘Smith’ will be replaced by ‘Khan’ as the most common surname amongst newborns in England and Wales in 2027. Breitbart News reports on the matter, citing sources from the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
The information is based on the latest naming data for live births, published by the Office for National Statistics this week. The statistics list, on an annual basis, all surnames found amongst newborns in England and Wales, dating back to the 1990s.
The report highlights the long-standing decline in the use of English surnames and the sharp rise in births to mothers with an immigrant background. It also shows that ‘Smith’ was already just a few hundred births away from being overtaken by ‘Khan’ in the figures for 2025.
Last year, 4,100 children were born into families with the surname ‘Smith’, whilst 3,700 children were born into families with the surname ‘Khan’ in England and Wales.
The report shows that all the surnames among the ten most common at birth in 1996 were of British origin. Today, only three out of ten are.
The ten most common surnames amongst newborns in the latest statistics are, from first to tenth: Smith, Khan, Ahmed, Ali, Jones, Hussain, Singh, Williams, Patel and Kaur.
Surnames and tax collection
The heritage organisation English Heritage, which was spun off from the British government’s former Ministry of Works, states that hereditary surnames only became truly widespread in Britain in the 14th century.
Surnames appear to have emerged in the decades and centuries following the Norman Conquest. At that time, it was important for tax collection purposes to be able to identify individuals across the country, not just by their first names.
Smith, which now appears to be overtaken by a surname linked to immigration, is thought to have been the most common surname throughout the entire period since surnames first appeared. It is of Anglo-Saxon origin and refers to a person who works with metal, writes Breitbart.
Other English surnames with the same meaning, but derived from other languages, have also survived. Among them are Farage, from the Norman word for ‘farrier’, and Gove, from the Gaelic word gobha.
The marked change in baby names has been evident for many years, Breitbart concludes. Official statistics show the extent of demographic changes driven by rapidly rising immigration and differences in fertility rates between new arrivals and established families.
Muhammed is very exciting
Over ten years ago, Breitbart News reported on how ‘Muhammed’ as a first name for newborns had come to dominate in multicultural London. It later became the most popular first name in England and Wales combined.
This is not something unique to the UK. Muhammad has also become one of the most popular first names in France, Germany and Austria.
In 2014 NRK reported
– ‘Mohammed is now the most common name in Oslo. Jan was number 2 and Per number 3.’ – ‘It’s very exciting,’ said Jørgen Ouren of Statistics Norway at the time.
It does not appear that this has been widely discussed since then. However, it is highly likely that Mohammed is still the most popular name in Norway’s capital.
