Retarded Research on the Courier Mail

Was it a slow news day or is this the calibre of reporting that exists at the Courier Mail (and for that matter news.com.au)?  The article cites "research" from White Pages and looks at the "trend" of surnames in a suburb, or more alarmingly the surge in non-Anglo names in various suburbs.  The article gives off the impression that Lee is an Asian surname only, although as noted by one of the commenters, Lee is also european/anglo, and could be a surname of someone Irish, English or even Romany Gypsy (thanks wikipedia).  Can we start claiming Brett Lee?  We really need someone in Cricket now that Richard Chee Quee has retired.

WHEN it comes to Brisbane's most popular surnames, the Lees are catching up with the Joneses.

And in at least four Brisbane suburbs, seven of the 10 most common surnames are Asian, according to the latest White Pages.

While Smith, Jones and Brown remain the most popular names in the listings, Lee has claimed seventh place in the overall 10 most common surnames in Queensland's capital city.

In suburbs such as Sunnybank, Archerfield, Mount Gravatt and Annerley, Lee and Chen are catching up to Smith, taking the number two and three spots.

Seven in every 10 names are non-Anglo in the diverse southern suburbs. Williams, at No.4, is followed by Wang, Wong, Huang, Lin, Liu and Taylor.

Sunnybank resident Hsin-Yi Chen, 25, and her mother Li-Yun Lee, 51, said having two of the most popular surnames in the one family was unexpected.

"Chen is a very, very popular surname in China, and Lee is pretty common too, but I never expected them to be as popular in Australia," Ms Chen said.

She attributed the popularity of the names to immigration and an increase in overseas students.

There are 5000 Smiths in the Brisbane area, twice as many as the second most popular name in the 2009/10 White Pages, Jones.

And you could be forgiven for thinking Joshua Smith, from Chapel Hill, has something of an identity crisis - he knows of four other Joshua Smiths.

"It has always been quite popular, even reading down the school roll there were a heaps of Smiths," he said.

Brisbane's west is another area where changing demographics have caused new names to slip into the list.

Since 2005, the Vietnamese surname Nguyen has dropped from fourth to eighth place but Lee has moved up from sixth to third place.

Suburbs such as Chermside, Kedron, Deagon and Strathpine in the north are less multi-cultural, dominated by the Smith and Jones duo, which occupy the top two positions.

Williams, Brown and Wilson are also popular names for those on the north side of the river.

Courier Mail