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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Claire Galloway

The 100 most common surnames in Edinburgh and exactly how many people have them

If your surname is Smith, Robertson or Brown then the likelihood is you've met someone with the same last name living in Edinburgh.

These are among the top five most common surnames in the Scottish capital, according to a website called Forebears that is a treasure chest of data.

Among the top surnames, there are the usual suspects (McDonalds, we're looking at you) and others that may come as more of a surprise.

Based on figures from 2014, Edinburgh Live can tell you what surnames you are most likely to come across and how many people bear that name - do you share one of these surnames?

Top 100 surnames in Edinburgh and the number who share them

1. Smith - 3,085

2. Roberston - 2,960

3. Brown - 2,814

4. Wilson - 2,592

5. Thomson - 2,544

6. Anderson - 2,396

7. McDonald - 2,123

8. Scott - 1,994

9. Stewart - 1,827

10. Henderson - 1,789

11. Campbell - 1, 735

12. McKenzie - 1,571

13. McKay - 1,540

14. Ross - 1,528

15. Murray - 1,461

16. Fraser - 1,442

17. Reid - 1,400

18. Sutherland - 1,297

19. Young - 1,262

20. Watson - 1,228

21. Johnston - 1,180

22. Walker - 1,155

23. Paterson - 1,128

24. Gray - 1,122

25. Taylor - 1,106

26. Mitchell - 1,063

27. Hunter - 1,041

28. Clark - 1,036

29. Miller - 1,029

30. Dickson - 1,011

31. Simpson - 1,005

32. Davidson - 904

33. Cameron - 902

34. Bell - 893

35. Munro - 890

36. Grant - 869

37. Sinclair - 829

38. White - 826

39. Kerr - 816

40. Ferguson - 791

41. Duncan - 756

42. Allan - 749

43. Wood - 745

44. McIntosh - 723

45. Gibson - 717

46. Graham - 715

47. Hay - 713

48. Black - 709

49. Millar - 700

50. McLeod - 693

51. McGregor - 691

52. McPherson - 672

53. Douglas - 665

54. Martin - 650

55. Alexander - 643

56. McLean - 631

57. Tait - 629

58. Ritchie - 629

59. Morrison - 623

60. Muir - 618

61. Gordon - 606

62. Johnstone - 598

63. Marshall - 594

64. Hamilton - 593

65. Williamson - 592

66. Wallace - 577

67. McFarlane/Bruce/Watt - 547

68. Russell/Cunningham - 545

69. Lawson - 530

70. Wright - 525

71. Hogg - 522

72. Milne - 519

76. Stevenson - 515

77. Aitken - 514

78, Bain - 513

79. Inglis - 509

80. Forbes - 495

81. Donaldson - 490

82. Lindsay - 469

83. McLaren - 456

84. Craig/Christie - 448

85. Crawford - 435

86. Forrest - 423

87. Turnbull - 421

88. Richardson - 420

89. Burns - 420

90. Ramsay - 415

91. Pringle - 408

92. Dick - 401

93. Laing - 398

94. Kennedy - 396

95. Weir - 394

96. Kelly - 391

97. Greig - 383

98. Currie - 371

99. Fleming/Cairns - 370

100. Grieve - 370

The front runners in Edinburgh are pretty similar across the whole of Scotland, with Smith, Brown and Wilson clinching the top three spots across the entire country.

Meanwhile, these nine girls' names have been the most popular in Scotland since the 1970s - including Nicola, Claire and Laura.

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