The Wilson surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 783,051 people carried this name — #10 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 345 people counted.
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In Switzerland’s population statistics
525 people named Wilson live in Switzerland.
They live in 18 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 431 people named Wilson.
Most of them — 290 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 26 départements, most often Nord.
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 Belgium’s population register
At least 169 people named Wilson 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 Brussels-Capital.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
168 people named Wilson have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 495 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Silesian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 print
Wilson in American newspapers,
1912–1916.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 6,024,532 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Wilson,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Benjamin Wilson 1721–1788 · naturalist -
Alexander Wilson 1766–1813 · naturalist -
John Williams Wilson 1798–1857 · sailor -
James Wilson 1805–1860 · businessperson -
Daniel Wilson 1816–1892 · writer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 100 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Wilson.
- Wilm 287 · U.S. census
- Wilmes 1,828 · U.S. census
- Wilmot 4,661 · U.S. census
- Wilmouth 473 · U.S. census
- Wilms 799 · U.S. census
- Wils 200 · U.S. census
- Wilt 7,981 · U.S. census
- Wiltgen 565 · U.S. census
- Wiltzius 256 · U.S. census
- Wimmer 6,246 · U.S. census
- Winckler 837 · U.S. census
- Wind 2,508 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Wilson is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.