NameCensus.

UK surname

Bannister

An occupational surname referring to a person who made or fitted bannisters or stair railings.

In the 1881 census there were 5,172 people recorded with the Bannister surname, ranking it #860 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 7,763, ranked #849, up from #860 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Birmingham Town: Birmingham and Birmingham Town: Aston. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Wigan, Dudley and Chesterfield.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Bannister is 8,286 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 50.1%.

1881 census count

5,172

Ranked #860

Modern count

7,763

2016, ranked #849

Peak year

1999

8,286 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Bannister had 5,172 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #860 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 7,763 in 2016, ranked #849.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 7,929 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Bannister surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Bannister surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Bannister 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 2,568 #1,148
1861 historical 2,391 #1,227
1881 historical 5,172 #860
1891 historical 5,405 #867
1901 historical 7,395 #725
1911 historical 7,929 #646
1997 modern 7,964 #809
1998 modern 8,181 #819
1999 modern 8,286 #810
2000 modern 8,186 #815
2001 modern 8,000 #816
2002 modern 8,139 #818
2003 modern 7,910 #821
2004 modern 7,889 #822
2005 modern 7,775 #822
2006 modern 7,697 #834
2007 modern 7,716 #839
2008 modern 7,743 #840
2009 modern 7,924 #843
2010 modern 8,113 #840
2011 modern 8,078 #828
2012 modern 7,894 #828
2013 modern 7,967 #837
2014 modern 7,952 #843
2015 modern 7,821 #851
2016 modern 7,763 #849

Geography

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Where Bannisters are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Birmingham Town: Birmingham and Birmingham Town: Aston. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Wigan, Dudley and Chesterfield. 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 1
2 London parishes London 3
3 London parishes London 2
4 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire
5 Birmingham Town: Aston Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Wigan 014 Wigan
2 Wigan 010 Wigan
3 Dudley 006 Dudley
4 Chesterfield 012 Chesterfield
5 Chesterfield 001 Chesterfield

Forenames

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First names often paired with Bannister

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Bannister

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Bannister, 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 Bannister surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Bannister 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, Bannister 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

Bannister is most concentrated in decile 7 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.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Bannister falls in decile 8 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.

8
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Bannister 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 Bannister, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Bannister

The surname Bannister has its origins in England, tracing back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old French word "banastre," which referred to a basket maker or merchant of baskets. The name's earliest recorded spelling was "le Banastre" in the Suffolk Rolls of 1275.

In medieval times, surnames often arose from occupations, and Bannister would have been given to an individual or family involved in the basket-making trade. As the name evolved, it took on various spellings such as Banaster, Banestre, and eventually the modern form Bannister.

One of the earliest known references to the name Bannister can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1279, where a Robert le Banastre is mentioned. The Hundred Rolls were administrative records compiled during the reign of King Edward I.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and tenants commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain the surname Bannister. However, it is likely that the name's origins can be traced back to the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, when many French words and names were introduced into the English language.

One notable figure bearing the name Bannister was Sir John Bannister (1539-1630), a wealthy English merchant and Member of Parliament who served as Lord Mayor of London from 1587 to 1588. Another was the English actor and playwright John Bannister (1760-1836), renowned for his comic roles on the London stage.

In the 19th century, the Bannister surname gained further prominence with the achievements of Sir Roger Bannister (1929-2018), the English athlete who became the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile in 1954, setting a new world record of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.

Other noteworthy individuals with the surname Bannister include the English cricketer Sir Charles Bannister (1851-1919), who captained the English national cricket team, and the American actress Anne Bannister (1924-2006), known for her roles in television series such as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Gunsmoke."

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Bannister families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Bannister 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. Lancashire leads with 1,254 Bannisters recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.10x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 1,254 2.10x
Yorkshire 700 1.40x
Middlesex 531 1.05x
Staffordshire 328 1.93x
Warwickshire 252 1.98x
Essex 203 2.04x
Worcestershire 194 2.95x
Sussex 189 2.22x
Surrey 170 0.69x
Lincolnshire 130 1.61x
Derbyshire 122 1.54x
Hampshire 117 1.13x
Cheshire 96 0.86x
Nottinghamshire 89 1.31x
Kent 87 0.51x
Herefordshire 82 3.96x
Durham 69 0.46x
Leicestershire 67 1.20x
Gloucestershire 55 0.56x
Oxfordshire 48 1.54x
Northamptonshire 44 0.93x
Huntingdonshire 29 2.90x
Northumberland 27 0.36x
Suffolk 25 0.41x
Berkshire 19 0.50x
Glamorgan 19 0.22x
Norfolk 18 0.23x
Hertfordshire 17 0.49x
Devon 15 0.14x
Cumberland 14 0.32x
Somerset 13 0.16x
Wigtownshire 13 1.94x
Bedfordshire 11 0.42x
Buckinghamshire 11 0.36x
Lanarkshire 11 0.07x
Renfrewshire 10 0.26x
Shropshire 10 0.23x
Wiltshire 9 0.20x
Clackmannanshire 7 1.68x
Denbighshire 7 0.37x
Dorset 7 0.21x
Monmouthshire 7 0.19x
Westmorland 6 0.54x
Brecknockshire 4 0.40x
Cambridgeshire 4 0.13x
Carmarthenshire 4 0.19x
Flintshire 4 0.30x
Isle of Man 4 0.43x
Perthshire 4 0.18x
Cornwall 3 0.05x
Midlothian 3 0.04x
Royal Navy 3 0.50x
Selkirkshire 2 0.44x
Berwickshire 1 0.16x
Kirkcudbrightshire 1 0.14x
Radnorshire 1 0.25x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Birmingham in Warwickshire leads with 110 Bannisters recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.59x.

Place Total Index
Birmingham 110 2.59x
Burnley 96 19.05x
Great Little Marsden 92 33.55x
St Pancras London 90 2.22x
Trawden 88 234.98x
Armley 80 36.29x
Aston 75 2.14x
Preston 72 4.50x
Habergham Eaves 65 11.88x
Blackburn 53 3.33x
Dudley 53 6.62x
Wigan 53 6.34x
Bradford 49 4.05x
Islington London 49 1.00x
St Marylebone London 44 1.63x
Cowling 42 129.59x
Barrow In Furness 39 4.79x
Manchester 37 1.37x
Rowley Regis 36 7.59x
Grays Thurrock 34 36.74x
Brighton 33 1.92x
Leeds 33 1.17x
Wolverhampton 33 2.52x
Chelsea London 31 2.04x
Kings Norton 31 5.25x
Lambeth 31 0.70x
Oldham 31 1.60x
Hammersmith London 30 2.41x
Burton Upon Trent 29 7.28x
West Ham 29 1.32x
Willesden 29 6.10x
Nottingham St Mary 28 1.59x
Tipton 27 5.18x
Chelmsford 25 14.63x
Everton 25 1.31x
Hulme 25 2.00x
Pemberton 25 10.48x
Stoke Upon Trent 25 1.38x
Bramley In Bramley 24 12.54x
Little Bolton 24 3.12x
Brightside Bierlow 23 2.35x
Chilvers Coton 23 43.96x
Cradley 23 76.03x
Liverpool 23 0.63x
Calverley Cum Farsley 22 15.50x
Deptford St Paul 22 1.66x
Battersea 21 1.13x
Camberwell 21 0.65x
Salford 21 1.19x
Walsall Foreign 21 2.39x
Bourn 20 30.70x
Great Malvern 20 14.55x
Stretford 20 6.07x
Clerkenwell London 19 1.60x
Derby St Werburgh 19 4.17x
Fryerning 19 156.25x
Idle 19 8.20x
Mile End Old Town London 19 1.77x
Newington 19 1.02x
Walton Le Dale 19 11.81x
Church Gresley 18 14.33x
Kensington London 18 0.64x
Leicester St Margaret 18 1.32x
Holbeck 17 5.13x
Ince In Makerfield 17 6.10x
Leigh 17 21.26x
Leyland 17 16.32x
Marston Upon Dove 17 66.98x
Shoreditch London 17 0.78x
The Hill 17 40.19x
Ventnor 17 17.29x
Worcester St John 17 21.61x
Wortley In Bramley 17 4.29x
Burton Extra 16 16.39x
Farcett 16 129.98x
Fishwick 16 43.22x
Mountnessing 16 105.89x
Northowram 16 4.56x
Sheffield 16 1.01x
Whalley 16 18.34x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 365
Sarah 206
Elizabeth 188
Alice 100
Ann 99
Jane 91
Ellen 79
Emma 77
Emily 72
Eliza 71
Annie 68
Hannah 65
Margaret 62
Martha 60
Fanny 35
Charlotte 33
Edith 33
Harriet 30
Ada 29
Louisa 27
Caroline 26
Catherine 26
Clara 24
Kate 21
Esther 19
Florence 19
Maria 19
Minnie 16
Isabella 15
Agnes 14
Lucy 14
Matilda 14
Frances 13
Gertrude 13
Lydia 13
Rose 13
Susan 13
Susannah 13
Amelia 12
Harriett 12
Julia 12
Sophia 12
Amy 11
Ethel 11
Rebecca 11
Anne 10
Betsy 10
Nancy 10
Rachel 10
Elizth. 9

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 307
John 285
James 172
Thomas 170
George 146
Henry 136
Joseph 117
Charles 97
Robert 69
Arthur 68
Edward 65
Alfred 63
Frederick 46
Samuel 45
Albert 39
Walter 37
Richard 30
Harry 23
David 21
Ernest 20
Francis 19
Frank 19
Herbert 19
Wm. 19
Stephen 16
Fred 15
Benjamin 13
Edwin 13
Thos. 10
Chas. 9
Fredk. 9
Tom 9
Jesse 8
Willie 8
Amos 7
Edmund 7
Aaron 6
Enoch 6
Hugh 6
Percy 6
Hartley 5
Isaac 5
Joshua 5
Luke 5
Matthew 5
Richd. 5
Jas. 4
Josiah 4
Robt. 4
Roger 4

FAQ

Bannister surname: questions and answers

How common was the Bannister surname in 1881?

In 1881, 5,172 people were recorded with the Bannister surname. That placed it at #860 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Bannister surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 7,763 in 2016. That gives Bannister a modern rank of #849.

What does the Bannister surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to a person who made or fitted bannisters or stair railings.

What does the Bannister map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Bannister 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.