What is a surname that is so popular that it would be difficult for somebody to

Question:I am looking for a surname would be impossible for people to trace to one particular country/ethnicity.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am looking for a surname would be impossible for people to trace to one particular country/ethnicity.

When a lot of immigrants came to the United States, they "Americanized" their surnames. Perhaps the easiest names to adopt to this purpose were surnames that described an occupation:

------Smith (Schmidt, Smit, Kovac, Kowalski)
------Miller (Muller)
------Taylor (Schneider)
------Fisher (Fischer)
------Weaver (Weber)
------Wright (Wagner)
------Baker (Becker)
------King (Konig, LeRoy)

Also, surnames that are the names for colors are easy to translate to different languages:
------White (Weiss)
------Black (Schwartze)
------Brown (Braun)

Physical features of a landscape can be easily changed; for instance, Geraldo Rivera is a. k. a. Jerry Rivers, and Brook and Bach are cognates. This principle even applies to Japanese surnames: "Okano" translates as Hill, for example.

Then again, Columbus translates as Colon and Columbo, and Martin is a surname in several Romance languages.

Smith

Lee

Names are geographically specific.

They may not know where your surname came from,
but they will know you're not from around here.

Spies use different names in different places to fit in.
There is no universal name.

Surname origin is not all that important in genealogy. A lot of surnames can come from more than one national origin and not everyone with the same surname are related, even those of the same national origin.

In family history, you start with yourself and work back documenting information as you go. You can waste a lot of time concerning checking out your surname and who all has it etc.

Johnson