Preamble

This website is devoted to the resources available for the study of the distribution,
incidence and statistical analysis of the surnames of Britain, mainly post 1837,
and primarily as a mass phenomenon.
Sorry, but you will NOT find here information on the history or etymology of an individual surname.

Introduction

1) This is an exciting time in surname studies. Up to now the emphasis has been on studying the etymology and origin of single names. Research has centred on the earliest, or fairly early forms of by-names and later hereditary surnames. Names been studied in the context of the documentation where they are listed. Language skills have been paramount, with an increasing awareness of the importance of the socio-economic background in early name-studies. . This approach is exemplified by the volumes in the English Surname Series.
1a) George Redmonds and David Hey have moved the emphasis on to the importance of the distribution of a surname, and tracking a name back via genealogical methods, to its earliest form. Use has been made of datasets where there is acceptable coverage geographically and of population. Particular emphasis has been placed on the Hearth Tax, and of Victorian death registrations.They argue that many of the names studied by the ESS have died out . Even if they did survive, they have become transmuted, such that no connection has yet been made with the earlier form.
The use of such methods has modified or invalidated many of the definitions in current dictionaries of British surnames.

2) A recent novel approach has been to study the frequency distributions of surnames and given names in modern datasets such as the late Victorian censi, telephone directories, and electoral rolls. Ken Tucker is leading exponent of this type of analysis. Allied to the mathematical study of surnames -extinction; birth/death models to replicate the actual surname frequencies of individual nations.

3) The above mirrors the earlier use of such datasets to study national isonymic rates. Malcolm Smith (Durham) has made innovatory use by applying the technique of isonymy to the social sciences.

4) The use of surnames as a surrogate for migration, and the identification of historical cultural regions. An up-and-coming-area involving the determination and plotting of surname densities.

5a) The geography of surnames - to determine modern socio-economic areas. University College London Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) has been the prime mover behind the Spatial Literacy website

5b) Names as a measure of ethnic residential segregation, and as health markers for ethnic populations. Again, CASA is leading the way in the UK, through its GeoNom Project

The problem is that the study of surnames has cut across so many disciplines, that it has ended up been treated as the poor relation of all. It is rather looked down upon academically. A shame- because taken as a whole- the area is rewarding. And there is much work for amateurs and academics to pursue in collaboration.

 

Perhaps all this will lead one to consider 'surnames' in the context of 'proper names'.

Questions

Introductory reading

  • David Hey's History Today 2001 article is a good place to start - in Vol 51 (7)
    This is a lucid, succinct article which will set the perspective.
    Alas, the online article is now pay-per-view
  • Flavia Hodges's radio talk on Genealogy, Genes and Geography is a broader summary.
  • Also, David Hey's background notes to the Radio4 series 'Surnames, Genes and Genealogy'

This may be supplemented by :-

  • John Titford 'Searching for surnames'
  • David Hey 'Family Names and Family History'
    and then:-
  • Colin Rogers 'The surname detective'
  • George Redmonds ' Surnames and Genealogy'

The 'Writers' page attempts to give a flavour of the history of different approaches.
If all this enthuses you, then this site's bibliography pages have masses of further suggestions.

 

Main themes of the site

Surname distribution

  • 1996 UK surname distribution of 16,000 names.
    This is the bedrock of this site, located on the Distribution pages

 

Surname plotting

You will need :-
  • to collect snapshots of a name from a national source at different time periods
    I have started to cover this on the distribution pages
  • Maps- either off-the-shelf or hand-drawn.
    Advice on this at the     maps and mapping page
  • This section also includes an online map of the Registration Districts of England and Wales 1837-1851

Statistics

Raw data on the Statistics pages to help you 'normalise' any figures that you derive from collecting numbers from a national source (or if not then, suggestions where to find this information)


Statistics and forenames

A new and embryonic section about the statistics and distribution of UK forenames, probably post 1540


Surnames and genetics

Is your surname derived from a single-ancestor?
This is ably covered by Chris Pomeroy's site

 

Multi-names

All this may lead you to become interested in names for their own sake-
  • Looking at the names of an area - town or county, perhaps? I started doing this for Portsmouth c 1901
  • Comparing names of the same type - locatives etc
  • Considering high-frequency names as a class on their own [Leaders page]
  • Investigating the linguistic aspects of surnames and how these relate to migration patterns [Variance page], the search for cultural networks
  • How surnames appear in large-scale databases


Large-scale statistics

Will surnames survive?
Is there a power-law governing the birth/death cycle of surnames?

 

International comparisons

I have included a few tentative leads on these pages

 

Starting earlier

What is the oldest thing that you possess? Probably your surname?
The page 'Teach' attempts to encourage study at a younger age.
Actually, this section is rapidly becoming a mini-sample of the whole site.
Recommended start here

 

Surnames and health

There has been interest in names as health markers for some time. In the UK , the lead is now being taken by UCL (University College London), and the Genom Project. This is a PhD Project being conducted by Pablo Mateos. His publications are listed and accessible via his own website

The study of surnames as an academic discipline

For an advanced background of what has been achieved so far, and what remains to be done, then read Silvio Brendler's.... Is there a place for an English Surnames society?


Teaser

If John has been the most frequent given name during the period of surname formation, why is the leading surname not
Johnson rather than Smith ????


Last revised: June 22, 2006.