Family Names

[poliphilo]

Here's a site (belonging to University College London) that documents the geographical spread of family names in the U.K. The Guardian drew my attention to it. Not surprisingly it's getting a lot of hits at the moment.  

If you have an English/British family name, this site will pinpoint where in the UK people with that name  were concentrated in the sample years of 1882 and 1998 and so- by deduction- where the name originates.

My family name turns out to be West Country. More specifically from the area round Bath. 

Ailz's family name- no surprises here- is deep Lancashire.

Comments

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

This is why I love LJ. I looked up my mother's maiden name, Williams, which is also my middle name. Celtic/Welsh. Upland Hill farmers, concentrated principally in LLandudno, Wales in 1882 and still 1998, with the principal American concentration now in Mississippi. Fascinating!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You'd think the 20th century would have scattered people higgledy-piggledy all over the map, but it's not like that at all. People cling to home- and when they do move they move in tribal groupings.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

We witnessed that a great deal in Los Angeles which, I suspect a great deal like London, is very ethnically diverse. All the Armenians, the Thais, the Koreans, etc., tended to be lumped together in specific areas. It makes perfect sense when you see it happening contemporaneously, because there must be a greater sense of security when one can immigrate into an environment that has some degree of familiarity and ethnic validation. But do people today immigrate and relocate for the same reasons they might have a hundred years ago?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I reckon the main reason people move around is to find a "better life". This explains both the 19th century flow into the cities and the late 20th century flight into the suburbs and countryside.