The most common surname for babies born in New Zealand is once again Singh. The name has been in the top spot since 2019.
According to data released by the Department of Internal Affairs, the second most common surname for babies born in New Zealand is Smith.
Kaur, a name that is historically the feminine counterpart to Singh in Sikh communities, comes in at third place.
The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Jeff Montgomery, said that Singh’s emergence reflected immigration trends.
“People have been here for a number of years and have become a New Zealand citizen and got a New Zealand passport and what we are seeing here I think is the Indian community is the highest for citizenship and now their names are flowing through into the top surnames across the country,” he said.
The baby surnames also reflected different migration patterns across the country.
For example, the common Chinese surnames Wang and Li came fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the list of top baby surnames for Auckland, but neither appears on the national top-10 list.
Similarly, Anderson and Thomas, which came sixth and eighth in the South Island’s list, are also not on the national list.
“Unlike the most popular first names for babies which tend to retain popularity across the country, data for family names differs, painting a beautiful picture of the cultural history of each region of Aotearoa,” Montgomery said.
“It’s a joy each year to get a feel for how the communities in each region are growing and thriving through looking at something as simple as the most common baby family names.”
