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 (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 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 Albanians, Tosk origin) and Chami (for Cham Albanians, Cham origin).
* Some common names are Northern Albanian clan names that double as place names such as Kelmendi and Shkreli (tribe), Shkreli. Other notable clan-origin names include Berisha (surname), Berisha, Krasniqi and Gashi (surname), 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 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 only:
Belgium
Belgium is a European nation composed of three main regions: Flemish Region (Flanders), Wallonia, Walloon Region (Wallonia), and Brussels-Capital Region. 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 of Herzegovina, 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 ''Wiktionary:-sen, -sen'' ('son of'), the only exception being Møller (Miller).
Estonia
Data from 2008.
Faroe Islands
The 20 most common surnames in the Faroe Islands as published in 2017 are shown below beside the number of people of the Faroese population sharing each surname.