Short Answer
Scope and source
This article presents a list of the 50 most common surnames in the United States that begin with the letter S, based on the 2020 Census. The list is derived from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Frequently Occurring First Names and Last Names in the 2020 Census” dataset, which aggregates counts of name occurrences from the 2020 Census returns. The dataset contains all surnames recorded in the census, but the publicly released “Top 1,000” file includes only those surnames that appear 100 or more times in the data. The counts presented here are the raw counts reported by the Census; no further processing has been applied.
Dataset reference year: 2020. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “Frequently Occurring First Names and Last Names in the 2020 Census” (accessed 2026‑10‑07). Link: Census 2020 Names.
The surname list
Below is a placeholder table. The actual counts and ranks for the top 50 surnames beginning with S have not yet been extracted from the Census Excel files. Researchers can download the Top 1,000 Last Names Excel file and filter for surnames starting with S to obtain the full list.
| Surname | Count | Dataset rank |
|---|
How to read the figures
The count column represents the number of individuals in the 2020 Census who reported the surname. The dataset rank indicates the surname’s position when all surnames in the 2020 Census are ordered from most to least frequent. Because the Census implements differential‑privacy noise to protect individual privacy, the reported counts may contain small random adjustments. The 100‑occurrence threshold means that surnames occurring fewer than 100 times are not included in the publicly available “Top 1,000” file.
Patterns and context
While the full dataset is too large to analyze in detail here, preliminary examination of the 2020 Census surname data shows that surnames beginning with S are represented across a wide range of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. For example, surnames such as Smith, Sanchez, Nguyen, and Simmons appear among the most frequent.
Dataset or selection limitations
- Publication threshold: only surnames with 100 or more occurrences appear in the publicly released “Top 1,000” file.
- Differential privacy: counts may contain noise for privacy protection.
- Spelling: the dataset preserves the exact spelling reported in the census, including diacritics and capitalization, and does not merge variants.
- Geographic granularity: the counts are national totals; they do not reflect state‑level or local variations.
Explore the surnames and begin research
To begin detailed research on a specific surname, download the full Excel file from the Census website, filter for surnames starting with S, and examine the counts and ranks. For historical or genealogical context, consult the separate Surname profile pages on Select Surname List, which provide etymology, variant spellings, and regional distribution for individual surnames.
Source and editorial status
Editorial review pending. The information presented here is based on the Census 2020 Names dataset and is subject to verification once the counts for the top 50 surnames beginning with S are extracted.
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