Most Common Surnames by Country

I tried to make this one a bit easier than my last names quiz by focusing on common surnames that I thought many people could guess (along with a couple curveballs for the mr. and mrs. smartypants out there). Let me know if you think this is an improvement or not.
*disputed
If you like this quiz, try the sequel!
Quiz by kalbahamut
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Last updated: November 24, 2018
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First submittedJanuary 15, 2013
Times taken3,834
Average score30.0%
Rating4.40
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5:00
I also put the answers in alphabetical order by name, not country, which should also help.
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Hint
Answer
Saudi Arabia*
Al-Otaibah
Israel
Cohen
Taiwan
Chén
Argentina
Fernández
Spain
García
Chile
González
El Salvador
Hernandez
Denmark
Jensen
Sweden
Johansson
Wales
Jones
Korea
Kim
France
Martin
Mexico
Martinez
Germany
Müller
Ireland
Murphy
Vietnam
Nguyen
Poland
Nowak
Turkey
Öztürk
Belgium
Peeters
Peru
Quispe
Italy
Rossi
Japan
Satō
Brazil
Silva
Russia
Smirnov
Australia
Smith
Canada
Smith
England
Smith
Scotland
Smith
United States
Smith
China
Wang
+1
Level 33
Feb 20, 2013
Wang? Wang? I thought Chin, Chang, Lee or Wu/Woo. Darn it! :) As an Aussie I shouldv'e known Nguyen. You heard it heaps in the Oz.
+1
Level 82
Feb 21, 2013
All common names in the U.S., too. Nguyen is, I think, the most common name per capita in any country. Something like 25% of the people in Vietnam have that name. If you typed in Chang you would have gotten Chen for Taiwan, it is sometimes spelled that way. I included many alternate spellings for Wang, as well. Le/Li/Lee is very common in China but it is more common in Korea. Roughly half of all people in Korea have one of three last names: Pak/Park, Lee, or Kim.
+1
Level 52
Mar 28, 2017
Wang is actually the most common surname in the world
+1
Level 82
Mar 30, 2017
Seems plausible.
+1
Level 82
Mar 16, 2013
Anyone taking this quiz who enjoyed it... go take the sequel I made Common Surnames #2!! Just click on my name and you can find it. I don't know what this one and my other names quiz were so popular... but that one has only been taken 7 times total. :P Just hard to see/find user-made quizzes now.
+1
Level 82
Jun 26, 2013
Is there a tag for Last Names?
+1
Level 82
Oct 15, 2013
because this one is still tagged as "first names"
+1
Level 59
May 4, 2018
Ha that’s kind of funny.
+4
Level 42
Jan 7, 2014
So, now we know why the Chinese don't use phone books... With so many Wongs and so many Wings, they might wing the wong number!
+1
Level 82
Jan 7, 2014
::chuckle:: That doesn't even really make sense, but still made me smile.
+1
Level 45
Jul 22, 2014
It's a Roald Dahl quote. From Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, the president's trying to call the Chinese something... I forget what, the guy in charge. And so he calls and gets a guy named Mr. Wing. And then a guy named Mr. Wong. And he says, 'What's going on?' and another guy says, 'Well, there are so many Wings and Wongs in China that every time you wing you get the wong number!'
+1
Level 82
Jul 22, 2014
still doesn't make much sense but I love Roald Dahl.
+1
Level 65
Jul 28, 2016
Ring the wrong number?
+1
Level 77
Jun 1, 2014
I don't really agree with you accepting "Hansen" for "Jensen". While both are very common in Denmark they are not the same name. Also thought it would be "Karlsson" for Sweden. Well it wasn't :)
+1
Level 51
Aug 13, 2014
Agree! The only reason I typed in Hansen was because I thought Norway might be on the list (just started typing before looking at the list...heheh)
+1
Level 75
Jun 30, 2014
Tried Oz for Turkey because of Dr. Oz. Close, but no banana. (Or cigar, as Jetpunk insists.)
+1
Level 52
Nov 10, 2022
Fun to read this comment after 8 years.
+1
Level 68
Nov 19, 2014
Figured Suzuki was the most common from Japan, but ended up getting it right with Sato. Well planned quiz.
+1
Level 61
Apr 8, 2016
You should consider removing Scotland, because it isn't it's own country, although, it tried to be.
+1
Level 45
Mar 8, 2017
I'd agree with alotaibi in Saudi Arabia... I work in an international office at a school and a huge amount of them are alotaibi (english spelling can vary)... also how'd i miss Nguyan and Murphy but get Rossi and Al-Otaibah?!?!
+1
Level 82
Mar 10, 2017
I worked in Saudi Arabia for six years. I knew some Otaibis. But it depends on where you are as the tribes tend to stay in certain areas.. like Rashidis around Ha'il, Sharifs in Mecca, Dossarys around Khobar, the Dawasir around Wadi al-Dawasir (obviously), and so on. The asterisk is because I found some conflicting data. In my own personal experience, I feel like I encountered a lot more Al-Shammarys and Al-Rashidis than Al-Otaibis.
+1
Level 67
Sep 6, 2023
How about accepting "Mueller" for Germany? Is it not commonly accepted that if one doesn't have an umlauted character available, one follows the vowel with an "e?"