Where the Cohens Are
A U.S. map by surname
February 14, 2011
The U.S. northeast.(National Geographic)
Great time suck: National Geographic has a map of the United States denoting where certain surnames predominate, as well as where those names originate. And while, as you’d expect, Smith is number one, and Williams is everywhere (it’s Welsh, apparently), and the British blues are dotted also with orange Northern European, red Hispanic, and purple East Asian names—and, yup, the Boston area is still home to Murphys and O’Briens and Kellys, in bright green—the most predominant surname in a part of the East Coast that sure looks a lot like New York City is, yes, “Cohen.” It is gray—its origination is “other.”
What’s In A Surname? [National Geographic]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
