List of most common surnames in South America
This is a list of the most common surnames in South America.
Argentina
Most surnames are of Italian, Spanish, French, German, Irish and Polish descent, in that order. The perception that Spanish surnames are a majority stems from the fact that they are patronymic -less repetitive. Italian surnames, on the other hand, are toponymic. This implies that there is a huge amount of Italian surnames, each of them shared by few people, and a handfull of Spanish surnames, each of them shared by many people. Given that Italians make up the main ethnic group of Argentina, most famous people in that country have Italian surnames: Ginobili, Messi, Bergoglio, Fangio, etc.. However, coming across another Ginobili, Messi, Bergoglio or Fangio is utterly unusual.Brazil
Most of the surnames of the Brazilian population have a Portuguese origin, due to Portuguese colonization in the country, while other South American countries were largely colonized by the Spanish. However, due to historical immigration, there are also surnames of African, Arabic, Italian, German, Japanese, and Spanish origin. 2010 data:| Rank | Surname | Share of Brazilian population | # | Origin |
| 1 | Silva | 10,5% | 20,882,120 | Portuguese |
| 2 | Santos | 6,8% | 13,433,982 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 3 | Sousa | 4,9% | 9,810,832 | Portuguese |
| 4 | Oliveira | 3,1% | 6,209,493 | Portuguese |
| 5 | Pereira | 2,9% | 5,892,937 | Portuguese |
| 6 | Lima | 2,5% | 5,007,393 | Portuguese |
| 7 | Carvalho | 2,33% | 4,630,387 | Portuguese |
| 8 | Ferreira | 2,29% | 4,590,010 | Portuguese |
| 9 | Rodrigues | 2,27% | 4,510,002 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 10 | Almeida | 2,16% | 4,393,398 | Portuguese |
| 11 | Costa | 1,94% | 3,905,800 | Portuguese |
| 12 | Gomes | 1,92% | 3,848,000 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 13 | Martins | 1,83% | 3,650,200 | Portuguese |
| 14 | Araújo | 1,69% | 3,320,780 | Portuguese |
| 15 | Melo | 1.62% | 3,209,000 | Portuguese |
| 16 | Barbosa | 1,52% | 3,040,300 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 17 | Ribeiro | 1,503% | 3,010,000 | Portuguese |
| 18 | Alves | 1,48% | 2,960,500 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 19 | Cardoso | 1,41% | 2,830,120 | Portuguese |
| 20 | Schmitz or Schmidt | 1,33% | 2,673,000 | German |
| 21 | Rocha | 1,27% | 2,540,600 | Portuguese |
| 22 | Correia, Correa | 1,25% | 2,505,070 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 23 | Dias | 1,23% | 2,467,000 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 24 | Teixeira | 1,2% | 2,408,500 | Portuguese |
| 25 | Fernandes | 1,195% | 2,379,700 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 26 | Azevedo | 1,192% | 2,370,000 | Portuguese |
| 27 | Cavalcante or Cavalcanti | 1,188% | 2,366,300 | Italian |
| 28 | Montes | 1,183% | 2,362,000 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| 29 | Morais | Portuguese | ||
| 30 | Gonçalves | 1,174% | 2,348,000 | Portuguese/Spanish |
| First 30 | 64,6% | 128,695,910 | — | - |
Chile
All surnames are Spanish in origin, with quite a few of them being BasqueNote: The source does not mention the reference year or whether the count includes only the first surname or both surnames. It is assumed the first table refers to both surnames and the second table to the first surname only. It is also unclear whether Chileans living abroad were counted, although it is probable that those that were born in Chile were included, as they were registered at birth.
Colombia
All names in the list are of Spanish origin.| # | Surname | People |
| 1 | Rodríguez | 707,789 |
| 2 | Gómez | 537,843 |
| 3 | González | 531,484 |
| 4 | Martínez | 530,721 |
| 5 | García | 524,835 |
| 6 | López | 509,880 |
| 7 | Hernández | 454,471 |
| 8 | Sánchez | 449,750 |
| 9 | Ramírez | 427,404 |
| 10 | Pérez | 418,660 |
| 11 | Díaz | 388,419 |
| 12 | Muñoz | 293,759 |
| 13 | Rojas | 286,038 |
| 14 | Moreno | 265,374 |
| 15 | Jiménez | 261,391 |
Source: National Civil Registry
Paraguay
The list of most common surnames in Paraguay, reflected in the national voters register, shows the influence of Castilian Spanish in the Paraguayan society.Eight of the top 11 surnames end with "ez", the distinctive suffix of Castilian family names. The suffix "ez" means "son of"; thus, González means "son of Gonzalo", Benítez is "son of Benito" and Martínez means "son of Martín". This is similar to the suffix "son" in English and to "ic" or "ich" of Slavic names such as Ivanovich.
| Rank | % | Surname | Origin |
| 1 | 6.62 | González | Spanish |
| 2 | 4.84 | Benítez | Spanish |
| 3 | 4.18 | Martínez | Spanish |
| 4 | 3.13 | López | Spanish |
| 5 | 2.61 | Giménez | Spanish |
| 6 | 2.54 | Vera | Spanish |
| 7 | 2.08 | Duarte | Spanish |
| 8 | 2.05 | Ramírez | Spanish |
| 9 | 2.01 | Villalba | Spanish |
| 10 | 1.94 | Fernández | Spanish |
| 11 | 1.81 | Gómez | Spanish |
| 12 | 1.78 | Acosta | Spanish |
| 13 | 1.76 | Rojas | Spanish |
| 14 | 1.69 | Ortiz | Spanish |
| 15 | 1.68 | Cáceres | Spanish |
| 16 | 1.58 | Rodríguez | Spanish |
| 17 | 1.57 | Ruiz | Spanish |
| 18 | 1.54 | Núñez | Spanish |
| 19 | 1.48 | Ayala | Spanish |
| 20 | 1.46 | Báez | Spanish |
| 21 | 1.39 | Galeano | Spanish |
| 22 | 1.34 | Herrera | Spanish |
| 23 | 1.27 | Franco | Spanish/Portuguese |
| 24 | 1.25 | Torres | Spanish |
| 25 | 1.25 | Cardozo | Spanish |
All surnames are of Spanish origin, except when noted.
Suriname
| Rank | Surname |
| 1 | Lin |
| 2 | Pinas |
| 3 | Wong |
| 4 | Chin |
| 5 | Mohan |
| 6 | Kalloe |
| 7 | Singh |
| 8 | Lie |
| 9 | van Dijk |
| 10 | Tjin |