Many surnames in Britain derrive from areas nearby (General)

by Paul Andrews , Shropshire, England, Sunday, February 08, 2009, 07:59 (5840 days ago) @ rookancestrybest

The National Trust website presents the findings of a project based at University College London (UCL) that is investigating the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic. It allows users to search the databases that they have created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names.

The findings are shown on maps giving the surname distribution at Royal Mail Postal Area level.

There needed to be at least 100 people with the name on the Electoral Register in 1998 to be in the database.

In 1881 the majority of 'Malverns' were in North Gloucestershire/South Worcestershire area.

By 1998, whilst there is still a concentration of the name in North Gloucestershire/South Worcestershire, there has been a significant growth in the name in other parts of the country; most noticably The Lake District.

http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/