Surname origins

MargaretR · 23-08-2007, 05:06

Surname Profiler
There is loads of info on BBC news today about UK emigration and ex-pats.
Amongst it all I found this link which shows you where in UK your family is likely to have been living in 1881
Before the age of rail travel families rarely moved out of the area where they were born.
I recall snipetts of family info about Cornwall in the origins of my maternal grandmother, and was pleased to have it confirmed by this search. I know very little of my maternal grandfather, and found his name concentrated there too, so both families were part of the large migration out of Cornwall when the tin mining industry declined.

(just another interesting site to visit for us folks with too much time on our hands

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garinda · 23-08-2007, 07:35

That was interesting, thanks.

Cornwall, Sussex and Shetland for our name, in three far flung corners of the British Isles. The part of my family whose surname I carry were actually in Oswaldtwistle in 1881, having come down from what's now Cumbria, in 1840.

cashman · 23-08-2007, 11:08

Blackburn was the main area then and still is, so that confirms cashy is a PROPER Lancastrian.

Lolly · 23-08-2007, 12:48

Oldham was the main area in 1881 for me and is Blackburn now. Hmmm... wonder where Smith comes from??

Wynonie Harris · 23-08-2007, 12:58

Top postal town for my name in 1881 and 1998 is...Accrington. I always knew we were an unadventurous lot!

Thanks for that, Margaret. Very interesting.

Eric · 23-08-2007, 13:01

Looks like Blackburn for me ... but a whole bunch in NE Scotland and the Islands ... Not too many in the south, thank god. I guess that this wild colonial boy has solid Lancashire roots.

Margaret Pilkington · 23-08-2007, 13:07

What an interesting site......Blackburn was the top town for my maiden name in 1881....but them after doing some family tree research I suspected that.

garinda · 23-08-2007, 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

That was interesting, thanks.

Cornwall, Sussex and Shetland for our name, in three far flung corners of the British Isles. The part of my family whose surname I carry were actually in Oswaldtwistle in 1881, having come down from what's now Cumbria, in 1840.

I think I need a geography lesson on the British Isles. It's actually the Hebrides and not the Shetland Islands, as well as Cornwall and Sussex that had the greatest density of people sharing my surname.

West Ender · 23-08-2007, 14:56

My family (maiden) name - there were less than 100 of us in 1998 so we're not there. In 1881 it was all of Lancashire with a stronger concentration around the Fylde. I knew that, they were all my ancestors in Preston and Fleetwood.