Revealed: The most common surnames in Britain and Ireland – and where they come from

Revealed: The most common surnames in Britain and Ireland – and where they come from:

A new comprehensive 'dictionary of names' revealing the origins of more than 45,000 of the most popular in Britain and Ireland has been published. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland features the most common surnames and details about their origins. Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown and Taylor are among the most common names, while names including Farah, Twelvetrees and Li are amongst the 8,000 family names explained for the first time.