DATABASES & LEGAL RESOURCES

U.S. Surname Reference

A mark is refused under Section 2(e)(4) when buyers would primarily understand it as a surname. Presence on this list raises the question; it does not answer it. Courts look at whether the term has another common meaning, whether anyone connected with the business has that name, whether the trade recognises other people with it, and how the mark is stylised.

Updated 2026-10-27 · 5 min read

How the surname analysis actually runs

  1. Does the public primarily read the word as a surname? Frequency in census-type data matters here.
  2. Does the term also have a common non-surname meaning? “Light”, “Sharp” and “Bell” survive because of that second meaning.
  3. Is anyone associated with the applicant actually named that? The surname significance is then harder to argue away.
  4. Does the word have the look and feel of a surname in context — for example “and Sons”, “Brothers”, or initials plus a surname?
Escape routes worth knowing

A surname mark can still register through acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) after substantially exclusive use, or by combining it with additional distinctive matter. Adding words rarely makes a surname less surname-like unless the combination changes how buyers read it.

Using this list honestly

The ranking order follows the U.S. Census Bureau's file of frequently occurring surnames, published from federal census returns and in the public domain. Exact counts are deliberately omitted because they change between releases, and any static snapshot ages quickly. Treat a match as a reason to think harder, not as a refusal.

993 most frequent U.S. surnames

  • 1. Smith
  • 2. Johnson
  • 3. Williams
  • 4. Brown
  • 5. Jones
  • 6. Garcia
  • 7. Miller
  • 8. Davis
  • 9. Rodriguez
  • 10. Martinez
  • 11. Hernandez
  • 12. Lopez
  • 13. Gonzalez
  • 14. Wilson
  • 15. Anderson
  • 16. Thomas
  • 17. Taylor
  • 18. Moore
  • 19. Jackson
  • 20. Martin
  • 21. Lee
  • 22. Perez
  • 23. Thompson
  • 24. White
  • 25. Harris
  • 26. Sanchez
  • 27. Clark
  • 28. Ramirez
  • 29. Lewis
  • 30. Robinson
  • 31. Walker
  • 32. Young
  • 33. Allen
  • 34. King
  • 35. Wright
  • 36. Scott
  • 37. Torres
  • 38. Nguyen
  • 39. Hill
  • 40. Flores
  • 41. Green
  • 42. Adams
  • 43. Nelson
  • 44. Baker
  • 45. Hall
  • 46. Rivera
  • 47. Campbell
  • 48. Mitchell
  • 49. Carter
  • 50. Roberts
  • 51. Gomez
  • 52. Phillips
  • 53. Evans
  • 54. Turner
  • 55. Diaz
  • 56. Parker
  • 57. Cruz
  • 58. Edwards
  • 59. Collins
  • 60. Reyes
  • 61. Stewart
  • 62. Morris
  • 63. Morales
  • 64. Murphy
  • 65. Cook
  • 66. Rogers
  • 67. Gutierrez
  • 68. Ortiz
  • 69. Morgan
  • 70. Cooper
  • 71. Peterson
  • 72. Bailey
  • 73. Reed
  • 74. Kelly
  • 75. Howard
  • 76. Ramos
  • 77. Kim
  • 78. Cox
  • 79. Ward
  • 80. Richardson
  • 81. Watson
  • 82. Brooks
  • 83. Chavez
  • 84. Wood
  • 85. James
  • 86. Bennett
  • 87. Gray
  • 88. Mendoza
  • 89. Ruiz
  • 90. Hughes
  • 91. Price
  • 92. Alvarez
  • 93. Castillo
  • 94. Sanders
  • 95. Patel
  • 96. Myers
  • 97. Long
  • 98. Ross
  • 99. Foster
  • 100. Jimenez
  • 101. Powell
  • 102. Jenkins
  • 103. Perry
  • 104. Russell
  • 105. Sullivan
  • 106. Bell
  • 107. Coleman
  • 108. Butler
  • 109. Henderson
  • 110. Barnes
  • 111. Gonzales
  • 112. Fisher
  • 113. Vasquez
  • 114. Simmons
  • 115. Romero
  • 116. Jordan
  • 117. Patterson
  • 118. Alexander
  • 119. Hamilton
  • 120. Graham
  • 121. Reynolds
  • 122. Griffin
  • 123. Wallace
  • 124. Moreno
  • 125. West
  • 126. Cole
  • 127. Hayes
  • 128. Bryant
  • 129. Herrera
  • 130. Gibson
  • 131. Ellis
  • 132. Tran
  • 133. Medina
  • 134. Aguilar
  • 135. Stevens
  • 136. Murray
  • 137. Ford
  • 138. Castro
  • 139. Marshall
  • 140. Owens
  • 141. Harrison
  • 142. Fernandez
  • 143. McDonald
  • 144. Woods
  • 145. Washington
  • 146. Kennedy
  • 147. Wells
  • 148. Vargas
  • 149. Henry
  • 150. Chen
  • 151. Freeman
  • 152. Webb
  • 153. Tucker
  • 154. Guzman
  • 155. Burns
  • 156. Crawford
  • 157. Olson
  • 158. Simpson
  • 159. Porter
  • 160. Hunter
  • 161. Gordon
  • 162. Mendez
  • 163. Silva
  • 164. Shaw
  • 165. Snyder
  • 166. Mason
  • 167. Dixon
  • 168. Munoz
  • 169. Hunt
  • 170. Hicks
  • 171. Holmes
  • 172. Palmer
  • 173. Wagner
  • 174. Black
  • 175. Robertson
  • 176. Boyd
  • 177. Rose
  • 178. Stone
  • 179. Salazar
  • 180. Fox
  • 181. Warren
  • 182. Mills
  • 183. Meyer
  • 184. Rice
  • 185. Schmidt
  • 186. Garza
  • 187. Daniels
  • 188. Ferguson
  • 189. Nichols
  • 190. Stephens
  • 191. Soto
  • 192. Weaver
  • 193. Ryan
  • 194. Gardner
  • 195. Payne
  • 196. Grant
  • 197. Dunn
  • 198. Kelley
  • 199. Spencer
  • 200. Hawkins
  • 201. Arnold
  • 202. Pierce
  • 203. Vazquez
  • 204. Hansen
  • 205. Peters
  • 206. Santos
  • 207. Hart
  • 208. Bradley
  • 209. Knight
  • 210. Elliott
  • 211. Cunningham
  • 212. Duncan
  • 213. Armstrong
  • 214. Hudson
  • 215. Carroll
  • 216. Lane
  • 217. Riley
  • 218. Andrews
  • 219. Alvarado
  • 220. Ray
  • 221. Delgado
  • 222. Berry
  • 223. Perkins
  • 224. Hoffman
  • 225. Johnston
  • 226. Matthews
  • 227. Pena
  • 228. Richards
  • 229. Contreras
  • 230. Willis
  • 231. Carpenter
  • 232. Lawrence
  • 233. Sandoval
  • 234. Guerrero
  • 235. George
  • 236. Chapman
  • 237. Rios
  • 238. Estrada
  • 239. Ortega
  • 240. Watkins
  • 241. Greene
  • 242. Nunez
  • 243. Wheeler
  • 244. Valdez
  • 245. Harper
  • 246. Burke
  • 247. Larson
  • 248. Santiago
  • 249. Maldonado
  • 250. Morrison
  • 251. Franklin
  • 252. Carlson
  • 253. Austin
  • 254. Dominguez
  • 255. Carr
  • 256. Lawson
  • 257. Jacobs
  • 258. Obrien
  • 259. Lynch
  • 260. Singh
  • 261. Vega
  • 262. Bishop
  • 263. Montgomery
  • 264. Oliver
  • 265. Jensen
  • 266. Harvey
  • 267. Williamson
  • 268. Gilbert
  • 269. Dean
  • 270. Sims
  • 271. Espinoza
  • 272. Howell
  • 273. Li
  • 274. Wong
  • 275. Reid
  • 276. Hanson
  • 277. Le
  • 278. McCoy
  • 279. Garrett
  • 280. Burton
  • 281. Fuller
  • 282. Wang
  • 283. Weber
  • 284. Welch
  • 285. Rojas
  • 286. Lucas
  • 287. Marquez
  • 288. Fields
  • 289. Park
  • 290. Yang
  • 291. Little
  • 292. Banks
  • 293. Padilla
  • 294. Day
  • 295. Walsh
  • 296. Bowman
  • 297. Schultz
  • 298. Luna
  • 299. Fowler
  • 300. Mejia
  • 301. Davidson
  • 302. Acosta
  • 303. Brewer
  • 304. May
  • 305. Holland
  • 306. Juarez
  • 307. Newman
  • 308. Pearson
  • 309. Curtis
  • 310. Cortez
  • 311. Douglas
  • 312. Schneider
  • 313. Joseph
  • 314. Barrett
  • 315. Navarro
  • 316. Figueroa
  • 317. Keller
  • 318. Avila
  • 319. Wade
  • 320. Molina
  • 321. Stanley
  • 322. Hopkins
  • 323. Campos
  • 324. Barnett
  • 325. Bates
  • 326. Chambers
  • 327. Caldwell
  • 328. Beck
  • 329. Lambert
  • 330. Miranda
  • 331. Byrd
  • 332. Craig
  • 333. Ayala
  • 334. Lowe
  • 335. Frazier
  • 336. Powers
  • 337. Neal
  • 338. Leonard
  • 339. Gregory
  • 340. Carrillo
  • 341. Sutton
  • 342. Fleming
  • 343. Rhodes
  • 344. Shelton
  • 345. Schwartz
  • 346. Norris
  • 347. Jennings
  • 348. Watts
  • 349. Duran
  • 350. Walters
  • 351. Cohen
  • 352. McDaniel
  • 353. Moran
  • 354. Parks
  • 355. Steele
  • 356. Vaughn
  • 357. Becker
  • 358. Holt
  • 359. Deleon
  • 360. Barker
  • 361. Terry
  • 362. Hale
  • 363. Leon
  • 364. Hail
  • 365. Benson
  • 366. Haynes
  • 367. Horton
  • 368. Miles
  • 369. Lyons
  • 370. Pham
  • 371. Graves
  • 372. Bush
  • 373. Thornton
  • 374. Wolfe
  • 375. Warner
  • 376. Cabrera
  • 377. McKinney
  • 378. Mann
  • 379. Zimmerman
  • 380. Dawson
  • 381. Lara
  • 382. Fletcher
  • 383. Page
  • 384. McCarthy
  • 385. Love
  • 386. Robles
  • 387. Cervantes
  • 388. Solis
  • 389. Erickson
  • 390. Reeves
  • 391. Chang
  • 392. Klein
  • 393. Salinas
  • 394. Fuentes
  • 395. Baldwin
  • 396. Daniel
  • 397. Simon
  • 398. Velasquez
  • 399. Hardy
  • 400. Higgins
  • 401. Aguirre
  • 402. Lin
  • 403. Cummings
  • 404. Chandler
  • 405. Sharp
  • 406. Barber
  • 407. Bowen
  • 408. Ochoa
  • 409. Dennis
  • 410. Robbins
  • 411. Liu
  • 412. Ramsey
  • 413. Francis
  • 414. Griffith
  • 415. Paul
  • 416. Blair
  • 417. Oconnor
  • 418. Cardenas
  • 419. Pacheco
  • 420. Cross
  • 421. Calderon
  • 422. Quinn
  • 423. Moss
  • 424. Swanson
  • 425. Chan
  • 426. Rivas
  • 427. Khan
  • 428. Rodgers
  • 429. Serrano
  • 430. Fitzgerald
  • 431. Rosales
  • 432. Stevenson
  • 433. Christensen
  • 434. Manning
  • 435. Gill
  • 436. Curry
  • 437. McLaughlin
  • 438. Harmon
  • 439. McGee
  • 440. Gross
  • 441. Doyle
  • 442. Garner
  • 443. Newton
  • 444. Burgess
  • 445. Reese
  • 446. Walton
  • 447. Blake
  • 448. Trujillo
  • 449. Adkins
  • 450. Brady
  • 451. Goodman
  • 452. Roman
  • 453. Webster
  • 454. Goodwin
  • 455. Fischer
  • 456. Huang
  • 457. Potter
  • 458. Delacruz
  • 459. Montoya
  • 460. Todd
  • 461. Wu
  • 462. Hines
  • 463. Mullins
  • 464. Castaneda
  • 465. Malone
  • 466. Cannon
  • 467. Tate
  • 468. MacK
  • 469. Sherman
  • 470. Hubbard
  • 471. Hodges
  • 472. Zhang
  • 473. Guerra
  • 474. Wolf
  • 475. Valencia
  • 476. Franco
  • 477. Rowe
  • 478. Gallagher
  • 479. Farmer
  • 480. Hammond
  • 481. Hampton
  • 482. Townsend
  • 483. Ingram
  • 484. Wise
  • 485. Gallegos
  • 486. Clarke
  • 487. Barton
  • 488. Schroeder
  • 489. Maxwell
  • 490. Waters
  • 491. Logan
  • 492. Camacho
  • 493. Strickland
  • 494. Norman
  • 495. Person
  • 496. Colon
  • 497. Parsons
  • 498. Frank
  • 499. Harrington
  • 500. Glover
  • 501. Osborne
  • 502. Buchanan
  • 503. Casey
  • 504. Floyd
  • 505. Patton
  • 506. Ibarra
  • 507. Ball
  • 508. Tyler
  • 509. Suarez
  • 510. Bowers
  • 511. Orozco
  • 512. Salas
  • 513. Cobb
  • 514. Gibbs
  • 515. Andrade
  • 516. Bauer
  • 517. Conner
  • 518. Moody
  • 519. Escobar
  • 520. McGuire
  • 521. Lloyd
  • 522. Mueller
  • 523. Hartman
  • 524. French
  • 525. Kramer
  • 526. McBride
  • 527. Pope
  • 528. Lindsey
  • 529. Velazquez
  • 530. Norton
  • 531. McCormick
  • 532. Sparks
  • 533. Flynn
  • 534. Yates
  • 535. Hogan
  • 536. Marsh
  • 537. MacIas
  • 538. Villanueva
  • 539. Zamora
  • 540. Pratt
  • 541. Stokes
  • 542. Owen
  • 543. Ballard
  • 544. Lang
  • 545. Brock
  • 546. Villarreal
  • 547. Charles
  • 548. Drake
  • 549. Barrera
  • 550. Cain
  • 551. Patrick
  • 552. Pineda
  • 553. Burnett
  • 554. Mercado
  • 555. Santana
  • 556. Shepherd
  • 557. Bautista
  • 558. Ali
  • 559. Shaffer
  • 560. Lamb
  • 561. Trevino
  • 562. McKenzie
  • 563. Hess
  • 564. Beil
  • 565. Olsen
  • 566. Cochran
  • 567. Morton
  • 568. Nash
  • 569. Wilkins
  • 570. Petersen
  • 571. Briggs
  • 572. Shah
  • 573. Roth
  • 574. Nicholson
  • 575. Holloway
  • 576. Lozano
  • 577. Flowers
  • 578. Hoover
  • 579. Arias
  • 580. Mora
  • 581. Valenzuela
  • 582. Bryan
  • 583. Meyers
  • 584. Weiss
  • 585. Underwood
  • 586. Bass
  • 587. Greer
  • 588. Summers
  • 589. Houston
  • 590. Carson
  • 591. Morrow
  • 592. Clayton
  • 593. Whitaker
  • 594. Decker
  • 595. Yoder
  • 596. Collier
  • 597. Zuniga
  • 598. Carey
  • 599. Wilcox
  • 600. Melendez
  • 601. Poole
  • 602. Roberson
  • 603. Larsen
  • 604. Conley
  • 605. Davenport
  • 606. Copeland
  • 607. Massey
  • 608. Lam
  • 609. Huff
  • 610. Rocha
  • 611. Cameron
  • 612. Jefferson
  • 613. Hood
  • 614. Monroe
  • 615. Anthony
  • 616. Pittman
  • 617. Huynh
  • 618. Randall
  • 619. Singleton
  • 620. Kirk
  • 621. Combs
  • 622. Mathis
  • 623. Christian
  • 624. Skinner
  • 625. Bradford
  • 626. Richard
  • 627. Galvan
  • 628. Wall
  • 629. Boone
  • 630. Kirby
  • 631. Wilkinson
  • 632. Bridges
  • 633. Bruce
  • 634. Atkinson
  • 635. Velez
  • 636. Meza
  • 637. Roy
  • 638. Vincent
  • 639. York
  • 640. Hodge
  • 641. Villa
  • 642. Abbott
  • 643. Allison
  • 644. Tapia
  • 645. Gates
  • 646. Chase
  • 647. Sosa
  • 648. Sweeney
  • 649. Farrell
  • 650. Wyatt
  • 651. Dalton
  • 652. Horn
  • 653. Barron
  • 654. Phelps
  • 655. Yu
  • 656. Dickerson
  • 657. Heath
  • 658. Foley
  • 659. Atkins
  • 660. Mathews
  • 661. Bonilla
  • 662. Acevedo
  • 663. Benitez
  • 664. Zavala
  • 665. Hensley
  • 666. Glenn
  • 667. Cisneros
  • 668. Harrell
  • 669. Shields
  • 670. Rubio
  • 671. Choi
  • 672. Boyer
  • 673. Garrison
  • 674. Arroyo
  • 675. Bond
  • 676. Kane
  • 677. Hancock
  • 678. Callahan
  • 679. Dillon
  • 680. Cline
  • 681. Wiggins
  • 682. Grimes
  • 683. Arellano
  • 684. Melton
  • 685. Oneill
  • 686. Savage
  • 687. Ho
  • 688. Beltran
  • 689. Pitts
  • 690. Parrish
  • 691. Ponce
  • 692. Rich
  • 693. Booth
  • 694. Koch
  • 695. Golden
  • 696. Ware
  • 697. Brennan
  • 698. McDowell
  • 699. Marks
  • 700. Cantu
  • 701. Humphrey
  • 702. Baxter
  • 703. Sawyer
  • 704. Clay
  • 705. Tanner
  • 706. Hutchinson
  • 707. Kaur
  • 708. Berg
  • 709. Wiley
  • 710. Gilmore
  • 711. Russo
  • 712. Villegas
  • 713. Hobbs
  • 714. Keith
  • 715. Wilkerson
  • 716. Ahmed
  • 717. Beard
  • 718. McClain
  • 719. Montes
  • 720. Mata
  • 721. Rosario
  • 722. Vang
  • 723. Walter
  • 724. Henson
  • 725. Oneal
  • 726. Mosley
  • 727. McClure
  • 728. Beasley
  • 729. Stephenson
  • 730. Snow
  • 731. Huerta
  • 732. Preston
  • 733. Vance
  • 734. Barry
  • 735. Johns
  • 736. Eaton
  • 737. Blackwell
  • 738. Dyer
  • 739. Prince
  • 740. MacDonald
  • 741. Solomon
  • 742. Guevara
  • 743. Stafford
  • 744. English
  • 745. Hurst
  • 746. Woodard
  • 747. Cortes
  • 748. Shannon
  • 749. Kemp
  • 750. Nolan
  • 751. McCullough
  • 752. Merritt
  • 753. Murillo
  • 754. Moon
  • 755. Salgado
  • 756. Strong
  • 757. Kline
  • 758. Cordova
  • 759. Barajas
  • 760. Roach
  • 761. Rosas
  • 762. Winters
  • 763. Jacobson
  • 764. Lester
  • 765. Knox
  • 766. Bullock
  • 767. Kerr
  • 768. Leach
  • 769. Meadows
  • 770. Davila
  • 771. Whitehead
  • 772. Pruitt
  • 773. Kent
  • 774. Conway
  • 775. McKee
  • 776. Barr
  • 777. David
  • 778. Dejesus
  • 779. Marin
  • 780. Berger
  • 781. McIntyre
  • 782. Blankenship
  • 783. Gaines
  • 784. Palacios
  • 785. Cuevas
  • 786. Bartlett
  • 787. Durham
  • 788. Dorsey
  • 789. McCall
  • 790. Odonnell
  • 791. Stein
  • 792. Browning
  • 793. Stout
  • 794. Lowery
  • 795. Sloan
  • 796. McLean
  • 797. Hendricks
  • 798. Calhoun
  • 799. Sexton
  • 800. Chung
  • 801. Gentry
  • 802. Hull
  • 803. Duarte
  • 804. Ellison
  • 805. Nielsen
  • 806. Gillespie
  • 807. Buck
  • 808. Middleton
  • 809. Sellers
  • 810. Leblanc
  • 811. Esparza
  • 812. Hardin
  • 813. Bradshaw
  • 814. McIntosh
  • 815. Howe
  • 816. Livingston
  • 817. Frost
  • 818. Glass
  • 819. Morse
  • 820. Knapp
  • 821. Herman
  • 822. Stark
  • 823. Bravo
  • 824. Noble
  • 825. Spears
  • 826. Weeks
  • 827. Corona
  • 828. Frederick
  • 829. Buckley
  • 830. McFarland
  • 831. Hebert
  • 832. Enriquez
  • 833. Hickman
  • 834. Quintero
  • 835. Randolph
  • 836. Schaefer
  • 837. Walls
  • 838. Trejo
  • 839. House
  • 840. Reilly
  • 841. Pennington
  • 842. Michael
  • 843. Conrad
  • 844. Giles
  • 845. Benjamin
  • 846. Crosby
  • 847. Fitzpatrick
  • 848. Donovan
  • 849. Mays
  • 850. Mahoney
  • 851. Valentine
  • 852. Raymond
  • 853. Medrano
  • 854. Hahn
  • 855. McMillan
  • 856. Small
  • 857. Bentley
  • 858. Felix
  • 859. Peck
  • 860. Lucero
  • 861. Boyle
  • 862. Hanna
  • 863. Pace
  • 864. Rush
  • 865. Hurley
  • 866. Harding
  • 867. McConnell
  • 868. Bernal
  • 869. Nava
  • 870. Ayers
  • 871. Everett
  • 872. Ventura
  • 873. Avery
  • 874. Pugh
  • 875. Mayer
  • 876. Bender
  • 877. Shepard
  • 878. McMahon
  • 879. Landry
  • 880. Case
  • 881. Sampson
  • 882. Moses
  • 883. Magana
  • 884. Blackburn
  • 885. Dunlap
  • 886. Gould
  • 887. Duffy
  • 888. Vaughan
  • 889. Herring
  • 890. McKay
  • 891. Espinosa
  • 892. Rivers
  • 893. Farley
  • 894. Bernard
  • 895. Ashley
  • 896. Friedman
  • 897. Potts
  • 898. Truong
  • 899. Costa
  • 900. Correa
  • 901. Blevins
  • 902. Nixon
  • 903. Clements
  • 904. Fry
  • 905. Delarosa
  • 906. Best
  • 907. Benton
  • 908. Lugo
  • 909. Portillo
  • 910. Dougherty
  • 911. Crane
  • 912. Haley
  • 913. Phan
  • 914. Villalobos
  • 915. Blanchard
  • 916. Horne
  • 917. Finley
  • 918. Quintana
  • 919. Lynn
  • 920. Esquivel
  • 921. Bean
  • 922. Dodson
  • 923. Mullen
  • 924. Xiong
  • 925. Hayden
  • 926. Cano
  • 927. Levy
  • 928. Huber
  • 929. Richmond
  • 930. Moyer
  • 931. Lim
  • 932. Frye
  • 933. Sheppard
  • 934. McCarty
  • 935. Avalos
  • 936. Booker
  • 937. Waller
  • 938. Parra
  • 939. Woodward
  • 940. Jaramillo
  • 941. Krueger
  • 942. Rasmussen
  • 943. Brandt
  • 944. Peralta
  • 945. Donaldson
  • 946. Stuart
  • 947. Faulkner
  • 948. Maynard
  • 949. Galindo
  • 950. Coffey
  • 951. Estes
  • 952. Sanford
  • 953. Burch
  • 954. Maddox
  • 955. Vo
  • 956. Oconnell
  • 957. Vu
  • 958. Andersen
  • 959. Spence
  • 960. McPherson
  • 961. Church
  • 962. Schmitt
  • 963. Stanton
  • 964. Leal
  • 965. Cherry
  • 966. Compton
  • 967. Dudley
  • 968. Sierra
  • 969. Pollard
  • 970. Alfaro
  • 971. Hester
  • 972. Proctor
  • 973. Lu
  • 974. Hinton
  • 975. Novak
  • 976. Good
  • 977. Madden
  • 978. McCann
  • 979. Jarvis
  • 980. Dickson
  • 981. Reyna
  • 982. Cantrell
  • 983. Mayo
  • 984. Branch
  • 985. Hendrix
  • 986. Rollins
  • 987. Rowland
  • 988. Whitney
  • 989. Duke
  • 990. Odom
  • 991. Daugherty
  • 992. Travis
  • 993. Tang

Exact counts are deliberately not reproduced here because they change between releases of the Census file. Use this list for surname-descriptiveness risk awareness, not as a source of statistics.

Frequently asked questions

My surname appears in the top ten. Does that mean refusal?

No. It means an examiner is likely to raise Section 2(e)(4). Evidence of acquired distinctiveness, a distinctive logo treatment, or an additional non-surname meaning can all resolve it.

Is a made-up surname safer?

Usually. Words that look like names but are not found in surname data tend to be treated as fanciful, provided they do not imitate a real family name.

Does adding Inc. or & Co. help?

Generally no. Entity suffixes carry almost no distinctiveness and are routinely disclaimed or ignored in the surname analysis.

Sources

More in Databases & Legal Resources

U.S. Geographic Names Reference

States, major cities, and regions relevant to geographic refusals.

Protected Names & Official Insignia

Flags, government seals, and other matter barred from registration.

U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17)

The provisions of Title 17 that govern ownership, duration, registration, and infringement.

Copyright Office Rules (37 C.F.R. Part 202)

The procedural rules behind every registration, notice, and deposit requirement.