# Why are last names of MLB players and pro football players so dissimilar? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 9, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170 "2012-10-09T03:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/1 "2012-10-09T03:25:35Z")
When you compare last names of MLB players you see a lot of similar names. When you compare last names of Pro-football players you see similar names. But comparing both groups, there appears to be no similar names. Granted this is my casual observation, and not scientific. But, it seems to hold up. And it may be true for other sports. Ideas/comments? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/2 "2012-10-09T03:38:12Z")
One reason, I think, is there are substantially more foreign-born MLB players than NFL players. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/3 "2012-10-09T03:50:03Z")
Ever notice a preponderance of French names in the NHL; I wonder why? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/4 "2012-10-09T04:19:47Z")
Moved to the Game Room from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/5 "2012-10-09T04:24:54Z")
The NFL has many more African-American players than MLB, whose surnames are mostly of English origin and from the southern US. It also has a significant number of Samoans. MLB has many more Hispanic and Asian players than the NFL. If your observation has any validity, that probably accounts for a lot of it. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/6 "2012-10-09T04:47:37Z")
Chico said,“Baseball… been berra berra good… to me.” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/7 "2012-10-09T07:36:50Z")
Jackson (Bo) and Sanders (Deion) played in both the NFL and MLB. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/8 "2012-10-09T12:33:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The NFL has many more African-American players than MLB, whose surnames are mostly of English origin and from the southern US. It also has a significant number of Samoans. > > MLB has many more Hispanic and Asian players than the NFL. > > If your observation has any validity, that probably accounts for a lot of it. Yes. The distribution of names reflects the ethnic distribution of players. Most common surnames in MLB, 2012: Rodriguez, Johnson, Gonzalez, Martinez, Sanchez, Davis Most common surnames in NFL 2012: Williams, Smith, Brown, Johnson, Jones, Thomas Most common surnames in NBA 2011-12: Williams, Johnson, Smith, Jones, Davis, Brown Most common surnames in NHL 2011-12: Smith, Johnson, Jones, O’Reilly, Wilson, Carter [QUOTE=Leaffan] Ever notice a preponderance of French names in the NHL; I wonder why? [/quote] Not really… most common French name I found was Gillies, with three active players. The “foreign” names with more than two players active last year were: Kostitsyn, Bourque, Kassian, Gillies, Staal, Palmieri. There are lots of singlets, but probably a lot more eastern European names than French. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/9 "2012-10-09T13:34:38Z")
I found exactly 2 active MLB players with Thomas as their last name: Clete Thomas & Justin Thomas, and only one Williams, Jerome. Only 5 Smiths, and 4 Joneses (yes, Chipper and Andruw and 2 scrubs). Wow-that’s a lot fewer than I thought I’d find. In the NFL, I get 30 Joneses (+ one Jones-Drew), 45 Williamses, and 41 Smiths, which is tiny bit misleading since NFL rosters are about twice the size of MLB ones, but still. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/10 "2012-10-09T13:44:56Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Yes. The distribution of names reflects the ethnic distribution of players. > > Most common surnames in MLB, 2012: > Rodriguez, Johnson, Gonzalez, Martinez, Sanchez, Davis > > Most common surnames in NFL 2012: > Williams, Smith, Brown, Johnson, Jones, Thomas > > Most common surnames in NBA 2011-12: > Williams, Johnson, Smith, Jones, Davis, Brown > > Most common surnames in NHL 2011-12: > Smith, Johnson, Jones, O’Reilly, Wilson, Carter > Not really… most common French name I found was Gillies, with three active players. The “foreign” names with more than two players active last year were: Kostitsyn, Bourque, Kassian, Gillies, Staal, Palmieri. There are lots of singlets, but probably a lot more eastern European names than French. Just curious: when you say “most common”, how many men are we talking about with, say, the most-common name in each league? Re: the French names in the NHL: **Leaffan’s** observation that there are a lot of French names in the NHL is still possible in aggregate even if none of individual French names are very common _per se_. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-last-names-of-mlb-players-and-pro-football-players-so-dissimilar/637170/11 "2012-10-09T14:49:17Z")
> [@D18](#): > > Just curious: when you say “most common”, how many men are we talking about with, say, the most-common name in each league? There were [18 players named Rodriguez](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/players/?tcid=nav_mlb_players) in MLB this season. There are [25 active NFL players](http://www.nfl.com/players/search?category=name&filter=williams&playerType=current)named Williams, and [seven NBA players](http://www.nba.com/players/#W) named Williams. When you consider the differences in roster sizes, the totals are pretty much in line. > [@D18](#): > > Re: the French names in the NHL: **Leaffan’s** observation that there are a lot of French names in the NHL is still possible in aggregate even if none of individual French names are very common _per se_. Perhaps, but I think the number of players with French ancestry is over-estimated. There were 65 players in the NHL who were born in Quebec (roughly 6 percent), but 58 from Sweden, 47 from the Czech Republic… two-to-three times as many Europeans as francophones. I certainly wouldn’t consider it a “preponderance” of French names. Roughly 75% of the league is from the US or English-speaking Canada.