The Watson surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 242,432 people carried this name — #76 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,110 people counted.
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In Switzerland’s population statistics
174 people named Watson live in Switzerland.
They live in 10 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 163 people named Watson.
Most of them — 113 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 14 départements, most often Eure.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
92 people named Watson have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 219 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 13 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Lesser Poland.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 49 people named Watson live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Antwerp.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Watson in American newspapers,
1896–1937.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,595,703 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Watson,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Charles Watson 1714–1757 · naval officer -
John Watson 1725–1783 · antiquarian seller -
John Boles Watson 1748–1813 · theatre manager -
White Watson 1760–1835 · bricklayer -
John James Watson 1767–1839 · Anglican priest
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 153 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Watson.
- Wassner 189 · U.S. census
- Wasson 8,384 · U.S. census
- Waszak 690 · U.S. census
- Watier 109 · U.S. census
- Watkins 122,447 · U.S. census
- Watrin 112 · U.S. census
- Watt 14,872 · U.S. census
- Watte 138 · U.S. census
- Wattier 333 · U.S. census
- Watts 86,228 · U.S. census
- Wauters 457 · U.S. census
- Wawrzyniak 1,110 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Watson is.
A volume says what happened to it.
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