NameCensus.

UK surname

Aust

A surname of English origin meaning "east" or derived from a place name including "east".

In the 1881 census there were 340 people recorded with the Aust surname, ranking it #8,934 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 339, ranked #13,492, down from #8,934 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Box, Ditteridge and Reading St Giles, Shinfield (East and West Side, Hartley Dammer), Sonning (Early),. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Cherwell, Ceredigion and Wiltshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Aust is 430 in 1901. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 0.3%.

1881 census count

340

Ranked #8,934

Modern count

339

2016, ranked #13,492

Peak year

1901

430 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Aust had 340 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #8,934 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 339 in 2016, ranked #13,492.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 430 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Aust surname distribution map

The map shows where the Aust surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Aust surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Aust over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 260 #8,512
1861 historical 255 #9,699
1881 historical 340 #8,934
1891 historical 392 #9,019
1901 historical 430 #9,000
1911 historical 428 #8,827
1997 modern 334 #12,591
1998 modern 371 #12,027
1999 modern 382 #11,843
2000 modern 370 #12,078
2001 modern 365 #12,014
2002 modern 382 #11,839
2003 modern 354 #12,319
2004 modern 361 #12,175
2005 modern 335 #12,795
2006 modern 337 #12,810
2007 modern 338 #12,925
2008 modern 332 #13,207
2009 modern 343 #13,168
2010 modern 350 #13,251
2011 modern 357 #12,915
2012 modern 362 #12,615
2013 modern 360 #12,890
2014 modern 351 #13,227
2015 modern 343 #13,365
2016 modern 339 #13,492

Geography

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Where Austs are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Box, Ditteridge, Reading St Giles, Shinfield (East and West Side, Hartley Dammer), Sonning (Early),, Walcott, Charlcome and Pewsham, Chippenham, Langley Burrell, Hardenhuish, Kington, Slaughterford, Biddestone St Nicholas an. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Cherwell, Ceredigion, Wiltshire and Wokingham. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 London parishes London 3
2 Box, Ditteridge Wiltshire
3 Reading St Giles, Shinfield (East and West Side, Hartley Dammer), Sonning (Early), Berkshire
4 Walcott, Charlcome Somerset
5 Pewsham, Chippenham, Langley Burrell, Hardenhuish, Kington, Slaughterford, Biddestone St Nicholas an Wiltshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Cherwell 018 Cherwell
2 Ceredigion 008 Ceredigion
3 Wiltshire 020 Wiltshire
4 Wokingham 012 Wokingham
5 Wiltshire 022 Wiltshire

Forenames

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First names often paired with Aust

These lists show first names that appear often with the Aust surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Aust

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Aust, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Aust surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Aust household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs

Group

London Fringe

Within London, Aust is most associated with areas classed as London Fringe, part of Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Predominantly located in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Greater London, residents of these neighbourhoods typically have their highest qualifications below degree (Level 4) level, with those still in work engaged in skilled trades and occupations in distribution, hotels and restaurants. There is low ethnic diversity in these neighbourhoods and high levels of Christian religious affiliation. Detached or terraced houses predominate, often with spare rooms.

Wider London pattern

The age distribution of these neighbourhoods is skewed towards the middle-aged and old, although few residents live alone or in communal establishments and numbers of dependent children are around average. Owner occupation is the norm, as is residence in detached or semi-detached houses. Residential densities are low and many households have spare rooms. Most residents were born in the UK and, aside from some identifying as members of Chinese or Indian ethnicities, identify as White. Mixed ethnicity households are rare. Incidence of married couples is higher than average and few individuals have never been married. A large proportion of individuals still in employment work in administrative and secretarial occupations, or in the construction industry. Few residents are students, and many households own more than one car.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Aust is most concentrated in decile 5 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Aust falls in decile 10 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the less deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

10
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Aust is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Aust, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Aust

The surname Aust originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. The name likely derived from the Germanic word "aust," meaning "east," suggesting that early bearers of this surname may have hailed from eastern regions or lived in an easterly location.

One of the earliest known records of the Aust name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which mentions an individual named Nicolaus Aust in 1375. Additionally, the name appears in the Breviarium Grimense, a chronicle of the town of Grimma, Saxony, where a certain Johannes Aust is recorded in 1490.

The Aust surname is also associated with various place names in Germany, such as Austdorf (now part of Mühlhausen, Thuringia) and Austen (a district of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt). These place names may have influenced the spelling and spread of the Aust surname across different regions.

Notable individuals with the surname Aust include Johannes Aust (c. 1515-1591), a German poet and Protestant reformer from Saxony, and Johann Aust (1570-1632), a German theologian and professor at the University of Leipzig. In the 18th century, Johann Samuel Aust (1715-1786) was a prominent German philologist and educator from Saxony.

Moving into the 19th century, Friedrich Aust (1813-1887) was a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin. Another notable figure was Wilhelm Aust (1866-1952), a German painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and genre scenes.

Throughout history, the Aust surname has been present across various regions of Germany, with bearers contributing to various fields, including literature, theology, education, architecture, and the arts.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Aust families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Aust surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Wiltshire leads with 119 Austs recorded in 1881 and an index of 41.05x.

County Total Index
Wiltshire 119 41.05x
Middlesex 56 1.71x
Somerset 52 9.86x
Berkshire 33 13.41x
Gloucestershire 19 2.96x
Suffolk 18 4.51x
Lancashire 12 0.31x
Surrey 7 0.44x
Essex 4 0.62x
Staffordshire 3 0.27x
Yorkshire 3 0.09x
Buckinghamshire 2 1.01x
Kent 2 0.18x
Cambridgeshire 1 0.48x
Derbyshire 1 0.19x
Dorset 1 0.46x
Hampshire 1 0.15x
Leicestershire 1 0.28x
Sussex 1 0.18x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Corsham in Wiltshire leads with 49 Austs recorded in 1881 and an index of 1158.39x.

Place Total Index
Corsham 49 1158.39x
Colerne 43 3613.45x
Islington London 25 7.87x
Walcot 25 88.97x
Reading St Giles 19 78.71x
Bradford On Avon 14 150.86x
Bedminster 9 18.16x
Bromley London 9 12.48x
Liverpool 7 2.96x
Edmonton 6 22.72x
Glemsford 6 214.29x
Reading St Mary 6 30.44x
Bristol St James St Paul 5 23.33x
Clifton 5 15.38x
Long Melford 5 134.77x
Somerton 5 3846.15x
Sonning 5 183.82x
Box 4 161.94x
Clerkenwell London 4 5.17x
Freshford 4 888.89x
Great Coggeshall 4 119.05x
Marshfield 4 232.56x
Shoreditch London 4 2.82x
Southwark Christchurch 4 26.04x
Swindon 4 17.79x
Bath St James 3 54.55x
Cheltenham 3 6.05x
Everton 3 2.42x
Ilminster 3 81.30x
Reading St Lawrence 3 57.03x
Willenhall 3 14.48x
Acton 2 10.41x
Bath St Peter St Paul 2 85.84x
Buckingham 2 49.63x
Bury St Edmunds St Mary 2 26.70x
Chippenham 2 32.89x
Paddington London 2 1.66x
Selby 2 29.46x
Weston 2 49.26x
Bathwick 1 17.12x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 1 1.65x
Camberwell 1 0.48x
Charterhouse Hinton 1 161.29x
Congresbury 1 74.63x
Ditteridge 1 833.33x
Dry Drayton 1 238.10x
Elvaston 1 158.73x
Frant 1 25.51x
Great Crosby 1 9.43x
Hackney London 1 0.54x
Hampstead London 1 1.96x
Henbury 1 31.85x
Kensington London 1 0.55x
Lambeth 1 0.35x
Leicester St Margaret 1 1.13x
Lewisham 1 1.68x
North Bradley 1 47.17x
Richmond 1 4.47x
Sculcoates 1 1.94x
Sherborne 1 15.77x
Sopworth 1 454.55x
St Helens 1 20.49x
St Pancras London 1 0.38x
Stone Easton 1 250.00x
Tonbridge 1 2.48x
West Derby 1 0.88x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Aust surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Aust surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
George 14
John 13
Thomas 11
William 11
Arthur 10
Charles 9
Henry 9
James 9
Frank 7
Frederick 7
Walter 6
Edwin 5
Albert 3
David 3
Alfred 2
Daniel 2
Edmond 2
Edward 2
Ernest 2
Francis 2
Fred 2
Fredk. 2
Harry 2
Horace 2
Jeremiah 2
Jesse 2
Richard 2
Samuel 2
Sydney 2
Amos 1
Benjamin 1
C.J. 1
Cecil 1
Davi 1
Elisha 1
J.P. 1
Jane 1
Joseph 1
Martha 1
Oliver 1
Peter 1
Ralph 1
Reuben 1
Roger 1
Thos. 1
Tom 1
Uriah 1

FAQ

Aust surname: questions and answers

How common was the Aust surname in 1881?

In 1881, 340 people were recorded with the Aust surname. That placed it at #8,934 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Aust surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 339 in 2016. That gives Aust a modern rank of #13,492.

What does the Aust surname mean?

A surname of English origin meaning "east" or derived from a place name including "east".

What does the Aust map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Aust bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.