Keeping Up With the Smiths

More people named Smith bought a home in California last year than people with any other last name.

A total of 2,836 Smiths bought a California residence in 1991, according to La Jolla-based Dataquick Information systems. Behind the Smiths came Johnsons (2,314), Lees (2,182), Nguyens (1,804), and Millers (1,763).

The last names varied by region, according to Dataquick. In the Bay Area, the last names Lee, Wong, and Johnson outnumbered the Smiths, while in Orange County the Nguyens outnumbered the Smiths by more than 2-to-1.

Central Valley home buyers were led by Smiths, followed by Garcias, Rodriguezes and Johnsons. In Los Angeles County, the top five names were Lee, Smith, Garcia, Martinez and Gonzalez.

Dataquick monitors all real estate buying and financing and provides real estate data to lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Number Average Name Sold Price 1. Smith 2,836 $203,611 2. Johnson 2,314 $210,826 3. Lee 2,182 $303,462 4. Nguyen 1,804 $193,427 5. Garcia 1,703 $147,522 6. Rodriguez 1,463 $148,518 7. Williams 1,452 $192,649 8. Brown 1,428 $196,117 9. Martinez 1,387 $149,145 10. Wong 1,383 $274,969