diff --git a/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup.go b/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup.go
index 666a405d4..f95cb4aa1 100644
--- a/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup.go
+++ b/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package handler
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime/middleware"
@@ -206,7 +207,29 @@ func (u *userGroupAPI) SearchUserGroups(ctx context.Context, params operation.Se
 	if err != nil {
 		return u.SendError(ctx, err)
 	}
+	result := getUserGroupSearchItem(ug)
+	sortMostMatch(result, params.Groupname)
 	return operation.NewSearchUserGroupsOK().WithXTotalCount(total).
-		WithPayload(getUserGroupSearchItem(ug)).
+		WithPayload(result).
 		WithLink(u.Links(ctx, params.HTTPRequest.URL, total, query.PageNumber, query.PageSize).String())
 }
+
+// sortMostMatch given a  matchWord, sort the input by the most match,
+// for example, search with "user",  input is {"harbor_user", "user", "users, "admin_user"}
+// it returns with this order {"user", "users", "admin_user", "harbor_user"}
+func sortMostMatch(input []*models.UserGroupSearchItem, matchWord string) {
+	sort.Slice(input, func(i, j int) bool {
+		// exact match always first
+		if input[i].GroupName == matchWord {
+			return true
+		}
+		if input[j].GroupName == matchWord {
+			return false
+		}
+		// sort by length, then sort by alphabet
+		if len(input[i].GroupName) == len(input[j].GroupName) {
+			return input[i].GroupName < input[j].GroupName
+		}
+		return len(input[i].GroupName) < len(input[j].GroupName)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup_test.go b/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9fc39b2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/v2.0/handler/usergroup_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+//  Copyright Project Harbor Authors
+//
+//  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+//  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+//  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+//  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+//  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+//  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+//  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+//  limitations under the License.
+
+package handler
+
+import (
+	"github.com/goharbor/harbor/src/server/v2.0/models"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func Test_sortMostMatch(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		input     []*models.UserGroupSearchItem
+		matchWord string
+		expected  []*models.UserGroupSearchItem
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+	}{
+		{"normal", args{[]*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "harbor_user"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "users"},
+		}, "user", []*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "users"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "harbor_user"},
+		}}},
+		{"duplicate_item", args{[]*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "harbor_user"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "users"},
+		}, "user", []*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "user"}, {GroupName: "users"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "harbor_user"},
+		}}},
+		{"miss_exact_match", args{[]*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "harbor_user"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "users"},
+		}, "user", []*models.UserGroupSearchItem{
+			{GroupName: "users"}, {GroupName: "admin_user"}, {GroupName: "harbor_user"},
+		}}},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			sortMostMatch(tt.args.input, tt.args.matchWord)
+			assert.True(t, reflect.DeepEqual(tt.args.input, tt.args.expected))
+		})
+	}
+}