Surname distribution in Great Britain..for the genealogists

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:31 pm

From the BBC News:

What's in a Surname

Everyone's got a surname, but now a website which maps names against areas of the country where they are most common helps shed light on where our families come from.

Until now it's been hard to know what a surname says about someone. But a website has been launched that maps more than 25,000 surnames across Britain, highlighting areas of concentration. (See internet links, right, for a link to the site.)

full story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4620786.stm

Or go directly to the website:

http://www.spatial-literacy.org/index.php?p=familyname

The above website has posted that searching might be slow do to heavy demand. "WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING VERY LARGE VOLUMES OF TRAFFIC SO IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER."

Search page: http://www.spatial-literacy.org/uclnames/Surnames.aspx

I tried posting the map that was generated for my surname but it isn't stored image when it is generated.

The Midlands is the heaviest concentration.

MarkB

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:41 pm

That was fun Mark. My Gillespie relations were populating the area above Edinburgh and Glasgow pretty densely in 1881, and have spread out a bit since.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:33 pm

Wow, we Foxes have spread all over eastern England in 100 years or so!

Susan

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:54 pm

Thanks for that link. Seems that my Youngs were highlanders.
And it was intresting to see where the English Dickensons probably came from before they came here.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:13 pm

All I ever knew was that our name came out of Bath, and sure enough, that's the heaviest concentration still. Gee, this thing seems to work.

djm

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:45 pm

The US has had several for quite a few years now. HEre is a quick and dirty one
http://www.gens-us.net/map/genera.html

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 7:16 am

susnfx wrote:Wow, we Foxes have spread all over eastern England in 100 years or so!

Susan

There's actually a den of foxes in the field across from my house!

Sorry, I couldn't resist

Well....
I sure diddn't need a map to tell me that we came from Wales.
I did a modern search, and lo and behold, we're still confined to Wales...

oh well.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:26 am

Tyler Morris wrote: we're still confined to Wales...

Confinement was considered the best option.

Susan

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:32 am

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:34 am

susnfx wrote:
Tyler Morris wrote: we're still confined to Wales...
Confinement was considered the best option.

Susan

You're probably right!

Post by **Dale** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 11:39 am

The American one is quite interesting for me. A reminder of how rare my last name is, in both common spelling variations (Wisely, Wisley)

D. Wisely

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:29 pm

The name "Cairns" looks as though it was centred in the Scots Urban Lowlands. My understanding is that the name orginates from Galloway. Since the population density must play a part, that seems reasonable.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:52 pm

emmline wrote:That was fun Mark. My Gillespie relations were populating the area above Edinburgh and Glasgow pretty densely in 1881, and have spread out a bit since.

Emm,
Gillespie's is particularly associated with a famous girls High
School in Edinburgh - James Gillespies High School for Girls.
Both my sisters attended there back in the 60' and 70's. The author
Muriel Sparks (spelling?) attended the school back in the 20's or 30's
and wrote her novel 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' based on her
experiences - later made into an oscar winning movie. Knowing my
sisters - the school portrayed in the movie was every bit as wild as the
real school. Those of us from Edinburgh get a good laugh at the snooty
'Morningside' accent that Maggie Smith used playing Jean Brodie.
That was (and is) how the upper strata of Edinburgh society like to talk
(many have lost any hint of a Scots accent and employ a non-regional
English accent - the kind that used to be standard on the BBC World
Service Radio).

Colin

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:06 pm

Colin wrote: Gillespie's is particularly associated with a famous girls High
School in Edinburgh - James Gillespies High School for Girls.
Both my sisters attended there back in the 60' and 70's. The author
Muriel Sparks (spelling?) attended the school back in the 20's or 30's

My Scot Gaelic speaking brother (Jim Gillespie) probably already knows of that school, but I'll point it out in case he doesn't--he'd get a kick.
I remember getting a surprisingly good grade on a High School English composition on a Muriel Sparks story, way back in '79--must be a good vibe for me.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:23 am

My name doesn't exist!!!!