Have you ever wondered just how common your surname is?

Well now is your chance to find out as we can reveal ten of the most common surnames across Lancashire.

Forebears is a genealogy website which provides data about our names, how many people share them and the origins behind them

Using the website, we have tracked down some of the most common surnames in the county.

Some listings match up with the popular surnames across England- but one or two aren't quite as common place.

According to the site, there are around 119,791 unique surnames in Lancashire and there are 12 people per name on average.

Here are the top 10 most common surnames in Lancashire- and how many people have them:

1. Smith- 17,038

As this is the most common surname in England, it’s unsurprising that it also took Lancashire’s number one spot too.

According to the Forebears website, Smith is an occupational surname it comes from the word for someone who works with metal, such as a blacksmith.

There are estimated to be around 300,000 Smiths in England.

2. Taylor- 12,128

This surname is derived from the occupation of a 'tailor' or 'cutter of cloth'.

It's the third most common in England and 345th most common surname in the world.

3. Jones- 8,922

This is it the second most common name in England.

It’s the 208th most common in the world and a high percentage of people in Wales also bear the name.

Jones is a patronymic surname, meaning the son of John, or Johan or Jone.

4. Wilson- 7,394

This is the 313th most common surname in the world and is most prevalent in the United States- although a high proportion of people have it in Saint Martin too.

5. Brown- 7223

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor- 'the son of Brun' (i.e. Brown).

It is the fourth most popular name in England and 206th most popular in the world.

6. Robinson- 7044

This name is most prevalent in the United States and more than one million people bear this name in the world.

7. Jackson- 6287

Like all other names ending in ‘son’, this surname is derived from ‘the son of John’.

It is most prevalent in the United States and is the 383rd most common in the world.

8. Patel- 6071

This is the most common surname in India and 199th most commin in the world.

It means “Village Headman” in Hindustani.

9. Williams- 5497

This is derived from the forename William and has early origins in medieval England.

However, the primary source of the name is from Wales.

It is most prevalent in the United Stated and a high percentage people people share the surname in Turks and Caicos Islands.

10. Harrison- 5446

Harrison is the 1162nd most common in the world and more than 450,000 people across the globe share the surname.

It is most prevalent in the United States but a high proportion of people also share it in the Isle of Man.

See if your surname is in the top 1000 by using the table's search bar

Surnames on the list with the same name as Lancashire towns and villages

You might some names on the top 1000 recognise them as villages and towns in Lancashire.

Some of them are even directly derived from the geographical locations they were named after.

Farnworth- 486

This is 560th on the list and derived from the word ‘fern-enclosure’.

Lancaster- 817

This is the 299th most common surname in Lancashire and 588th most popular in England

Preston- 1412

Coming in 147th is Preston which is derived from the geographical location that we know and love in the county.

Blackburn- 1317

This surname is 152nd in the rankings and is another name derived from the geographical town.

Approximately 84,463 bear this surname across the world and it is most prevalent in the United States.

Hutton- 293

This name is ranked low in the list at 938.

However, it’s the 645th most common in England.

It’s derived from the geographical location of Hutton of which there are 29 parishes or townships in the world.

Houghton- 1530

Coming in at 129th most common is Houghton.

According to the Forebears website: “This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Haughton,' or 'Halghton,' but found in a variety of forms; compare Greenhalgh or Ridehalgh, both North-English surnames, variants of which are Greenough and Riddeough.”

Do you have one of the most common surnames in Lancashire?