Surnames,geography etc.

1. Surnames
2. Geographical roots

1. - Surname origins and distribution
Below are given, for each surname of a direct ancestor, the most likely origin (from the Penguin Dictionary of Surnames), and, parenthesised, the 1881 geographical distribution (from the surname profiler website).

Allen - the 'Alan', nomadic Scythian tribe (Midlands)
Barker - stripper of bark from trees, for tanning (N and E half of England, broad swathe from Carlisle to Essex)
Benn - Benedict (Cumbria, Lancs, Derbys, W. Midlands)
Bosward - not in dictionary (only Herefordshire, Cumberland)
Bozard - not in dictionary (geog. distribution unknown)
Brees - not in dictionary, geog distribution unknown
Breese - gadfly (mainly N Wales + Norfolk)
Burton - fort / manor house enclosure (all of England except SW)
Came - not in the dictionary. Only 247 in 1901 census England & Wales (Devon, Somerset, few in Gwent)
Dycher - not in the dictionary, geog distribution unknown
Corbett - not in the dictionary (Salop, mid Wales, W Midlands)
Fisher - fisherman (most of England and Scotland)
Giles - miracle-working 6th-century saint, common in SW (most of S of England)
Hallam - at the rocks/slopes (Notts and surr counties)
Handy - not in the dictionary (Hereford/Worcs/W Midands)
James - form of Jacob (mid to S Wales, Salop, Avon, Devon, Cornwall)
Lewin - dear/loved friend (Leics, Northants, Beds)
Macklin - not in the dictionary (Hants and surr counties some along Welsh border)
Makelin - not in the dictionary. Only 7 in 1901 census England & Wales, and very few, apparently unconnected, in previous censuses, so in Eliza Makelin's case, it's probably a chance mis-spelling of Macklin, by which surname she is also known.
Murby - not in the dictionary (mainly Leics.)
Powis - not in the dictionary (Salop, Herefordshire, mid-Wales only)
Powell - Ap-Howel (Welsh, son of Powell) (S Wales, Salop)
Robinson - son of Robert, v common (Cumbria, all N of England down to Lincs)
Southall - Southern haugh (side-valley, retreat), place in Middlesex (Salop)
Strain - not in the dictionary. Probably an Anglicisation of an Irish name Strachan, common in Down and Ulster. These Strachans are in turn probably descended from Scottish settlers. Only 298 Strains in the 1901 census of England & Wales. (Strathclyde, W. Midlands)
Tidball -form of Theobold ('people bold') (Somerset only)
Tierney - O'Tierney = 'son of Lord', Irish (Strathclyde, Merseyside/Cheshire/Salop)
Waistcoat - form of Westcott
Westcott - 'western cottage' (mainly Somerset, Dorset, Devon)
Whitehouse - white house or white neck (Salop)
York - ? 'yew-tree' (Salop/Leics/Herts, Yorkshire)
Below are the frequency per million names and frequency rank (again from the surname profiler website). Came is the rarest surname, followed by Strain, Macklin, Handy, Tierney and Benn.
```
Surname    Per      Rank
           million
Allen      2082       49
Barker     1449       77
Benn         63     2534
Bosward (no statistics)
Bozard (no statistics)
Breese       30     4605
Burton      942      128
Came          5    16554
Corbett     217      746
Dycher (no statistics)
Fisher     1294       93
Giles       420      390
Hallam      206      788
Handy        38     3680
James      2171       43
Lewin        86     1942
Macklin      31     4435
Murby         7    13582
Powell     1380       82
Powis        42     3472
Robinson   3523       15
Southall     84     1975
Strain       22     5799
Tidball       9    11886
Tierney      45     3176
Waistcoat (no statistics)
Westcott     73     2340
Whitehouse  288      563
York        146     1318
```
The table below shows the growth in the population of the UK:
```
Year  Millions
1600   4
1700   5
1750   6
1800  11
1900  38
1950  50 
```
1.1 - The Benn surname
I went through the 1841 census county by county to map the geographical distribution of Benns, which helps with assessing the probability that nearby families are linked.
In the Welsh census, there are 1.0 M people, no Benns et all.
In the Scottish census, there are 2.6 M people, only 19 Benns, mainliy in Fife and Angus.
In the English census, there are 14.7 M people, including 1016 Benns, in 3 areas:
```
- ~ 650 in Cumbria/Lancs/Yorks
- ~ 200 in the greater London area
- ~ 100 in the Midlands, mainly Warks/Leics/Lincs/Notts/Norths
```
These 3 areas are distinct i.e. are separated by counties with <= 1 Benn in them, except that Notts/Derbys borders Yorks.
I then counted the number of *households* in each of the Midlands counties: Warks (7), Leics (6), Lincs (5), Notts (6), Norths (4). This suggests that you don't have to back many generations from 1841 to link up the ones in any given county.

2. - Geographical roots

13 of our 16 great great grandparents were born in 4 adjacent Midlands counties:
- 5/16 in Warks (Birmingham and environs)
- 2/16 in Staffs (Bloxwich, Darlaston)
- 2/16 in Salop (Chirbury, Clun)
- 4/16 in Leics (Leicester and environs)
with the others born further afield:
- 2/16 in Cumberland (Carlisle)
- 1/16 in Somerset (Huntspill)
Of these 16 great great grandparents, 9 (Came, Hallam, Handy, Makelin, Powell, Southall, Tierney, Whitehouse and York) were living in (or were born in) an area where people of that surname are concentrated (see section on surnames at the end), suggesting that their roots (and hence ours) are probably in that area:
- 4/16 Birmingham / West Midlands
- 2/16 Wales/borders
- 1/16 Cumbria
- 1/16 Notts
- 1/16 Somerset
and the best guess for the other 7/16 (based on the area where they were living) is:
- 3/16 Birmingham / West Midlands
- 3/16 Leics
- 1/16 Cumbria
Chris Benn (crb@ing.iac.es)

Last updated: 8 Feb 2009

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Surnames,geography etc.

1. - Surname origins and distribution

1.1 - The Benn surname

2. - Geographical roots