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I thought it would be interesting to look at the distribution (at the time of the 1881 census) of some surnames. I've calculated what proportion of the people in each county had the surname in question, and plotted them on a map. Click on the names below to see what I found.
Many surnames are linked to certain areas. Fuller, for example, is most
common in the south east of England. Coggrave is a Yorkshire name. Smith is common everywhere, but has hotspots in certain counties.
Drawbacks
1. The data shows where people lived in 1881, not where they were born.
2. Married women's maiden names are not known - they take their husband's surname.
3. Census enumerators weren't always very good at spelling.
4. If a surname is very rare, even one individual living in a county can
represent a large proportion of that name - which gives a false picture. Equally, large families living in small counties skew the results.
5. It's not scientific - just for fun!
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