This is a list of the most common surnames in Europe, sorted by country.
Albania
At the moment, listings for the most common names are unavailable for Albania. However the most common names include the following:
* Common names denoting profession. Of these, religious professional names have been particularly widespread, including
Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...
(a Muslim priest, Sunni or Bektashi, with its variant
Hoxhaj),
Prifti (a Christian priest, Catholic or Orthodox),
Shehu (a Bektashi priest) and
Dervishi (Bektashi clergy). Bektashi itself is also a common surname. Ironically, Hoxha was the surname of
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
, the leader of
Communist Albania
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
who banned all religions. There are numerous other professional names which are not as common.
Begu also denotes a former ruler and also the surname(s) Gjoni or Gjonaj.
* Common names which originated as patrinomials. Common names of this sort include
Leka or Lekaj (Alex),
Gjoni
Gjon (definite form: ''Gjoni'') is an Albanian male given name, clan, surname and onomastic element.
As given name
Etymology and history
''Gjon'' as a given name is a form of the English name John. It is the name of the apostle Saint John in Alb ...
or Gjonaj (John),
Murati
Murati is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Agim Murati (1953 – 2005), Albanian footballer
* Aljmir Murati (born 1985), Swiss footballer
* Edvin Murati (born 1975), Albanian former footballer
* Emir Murati (born 2000), Ital ...
(Murad),
Mehmeti (Mehmed), Hysi (typically short for Hussein), Gjika/Gjoka (short for Jacob, cf Jake), Marku (Mark), Kola/Kolla/Nikolla (Nicholas), Hasani (Hassan), Kristi/Kristo, Luka (Lucas), Brahimi (Abraham, from Turkish), Sinani, Thanasi (Athanasius), Halili (Halil), and
Abazi (Abbas). Albanians of Muslim background often bear Christian last names (denoting former Christian origin), and those with Christian often bear Muslim last names (which many in Northern regions adopted thinking it would lead to better treatment from the Ottoman authorities), although the holders of Bektashi surnames are usually actually of Bektashi background
* Common names which originated as place names. May denote former residence, or, if the bearer has a Muslim patrilineal background, that their ancestors ruled the place. Common places used as surnames include Dibra, Laci, Shkodra, Prishtina, Delvina, Koroveshi and Permeti, as well as the famous Frasheri surname of the Frasheri family. Additionally common some names indicate regional origins: Gega/Gegaj (for one of
Gheg origin), Tosku/Toskaj (signifying
Tosk origin) and Chami (for
Cham origin).
* Some common names are Northern Albanian clan names that double as place names such as
Kelmendi
Kelmendi is a historical Albanian tribe (''fis'') and region in Malësia ( Kelmend municipality) and eastern Montenegro (parts of Gusinje Municipality). It is located in the upper valley of the Cem river and its tributaries in the Accursed Moun ...
and
Shkreli. Other notable clan-origin names include
Berisha,
Krasniqi
Krasniqi is a historical Albanian tribe and region in the Accursed Mountains in northeastern Albania, bordering Kosovo. The region lies within the Tropojë District and is part of a wider area between Albania and Kosovo that is historically k ...
and
Gashi. These sorts of names are very common in far Northern Albania and in Kosovo.
* Colors: of which Kuqi (red) and Bardhi (white) are the most commonly used as surnames.
Armenia
:Source: Armenia’s Voter List
Austria
The forty-one most common surnames in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
as published in 2006 are shown below beside the approximate percentage of the Austrian population sharing each surname.
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Statistics available for the Belarusian capital of
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
only:
Belgium
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
is a European nation composed of three main regions:
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
(Flanders),
Walloon Region
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
(Wallonia), and
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. Flanders has a Dutch-language tradition, while Wallonia has a French-language tradition. The Brussels-Capital Region is a mix of both Dutch- and French-language influences, with a large influx of foreign names. These different linguistic backgrounds are reflected in differing frequencies of surnames, as shown in the table below. On 31 December 1997 there were 316 295 different surnames in Belgium (total population: 11,521,238).
* Note — the following table contains the ten most common surnames in ''each'' of the three federal regions as of 1 January 2021.
[Statistics Belgium, Demographic Statistics, 10.000 most common surnames](_blank)
/ref>[Statistics Belgium, Demographic Statistics, total population](_blank)
/ref>
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosniaks
Serbs
The following names are the most common names for Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bulgaria
Feminized names included (m. Dimitrov – f. Dimitrova). Figures are from 2018 and provided by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute.
Croatia
Czech Republic
Feminized names are included (m. ''Novák''/f. ''Nováková''). Figures are from 2009 and provided by the Czech Ministry of the Interior.
Denmark
Nineteen of the twenty most common Danish surnames as of 1 January 2022 are patronymic ending in Norse '' -sen'' ('son of'), the only exception being Møller (Miller).
Estonia
Data from 2008.
Names of Estonian origin:
Names of Russian origin:
Faroe Islands
The 20 most common surnames in the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
as published in 2017 are shown below beside the number of people of the Faroese population sharing each surname.
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Most Common Surnames
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
Surnames, most common
Surnames
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...