In 2023, “Muhammad” overtook “Noah” as England’s and Wales’ most popular boy’s name. Now, a surge in migration is poised to make “Khan” the next dominant surname in the UK, displacing “Smith” within the year.
New data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that Smith has been Britain’s most common surname since the Norman Conquest of 1066. However, with only a few hundred births separating it from being overtaken by Khan in the upcoming 2026 release—covering births from 2025—the traditional British naming landscape is undergoing rapid change.
The report indicates that in 1996, all top-ten surnames were of British origin. Today, only three remain British. The latest statistics show the top ten most common surnames for newborns: Smith, Khan, Ahmed, Ali, Jones, Hussain, Singh, Williams, Patel, and Kaur.
This shift reflects a broader trend in employment. Since 2014, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) report states that only 734,000 jobs have been given to British citizens over the past decade, compared with nearly three million awarded to immigrants—408,000 of whom are EU nationals and 2.5 million from outside Europe.
The CSJ also notes that during the pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened immigration gates despite his party’s pledge to limit migration. He attributed this policy to “human quantitative easing” by the Treasury department, claiming it would lower inflation through foreign labor.
However, consequences have been significant. Since 2020, migrant workers in Britain rose by 2.1 million, while welfare beneficiaries without work increased by 2.3 million—a cost of an additional £21 billion ($28bn) in real terms. Over 6.7 million people now receive at least one welfare benefit, totaling £136 billion ($180bn) this year, a rise of £50 billion ($66bn) since 2019-20.
Notably, the welfare burden falls heavily on migrants. Between 2019 and 2024, visas for “dependent migrants” surged by 400 percent. The report warns that taxpayer money allocated to working-age migrants stands at £14.3 billion ($19bn) and is projected to reach £16.3 billion ($22bn) by 2030.
Left-wing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham claims Brexit was a “big con” orchestrated by Russian president Vladimir Putin, urging Britain’s reintegration into the European Union.
An example of this tension emerged when Timothy Miller was arrested on September 12 for wearing a burka during an anti-migration protest.