NameCensus.

UK surname

Bardell

An anglicized spelling of the French surname 'Bardelle', referring to a person from Bardelle.

In the 1881 census there were 401 people recorded with the Bardell surname, ranking it #7,959 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 534, ranked #9,515, down from #7,959 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Kings Norton, London parishes and Ware (Ware). Hertford St John, Hertford All Saints. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Doncaster, Uttlesford and Teignbridge.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Bardell is 563 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 33.2%.

1881 census count

401

Ranked #7,959

Modern count

534

2016, ranked #9,515

Peak year

1999

563 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Bardell had 401 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #7,959 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 534 in 2016, ranked #9,515.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 513 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Challenged Communities.

Bardell surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Bardell surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Bardell 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 190 #10,852
1861 historical 253 #9,764
1881 historical 401 #7,959
1891 historical 478 #7,694
1901 historical 513 #7,901
1911 historical 494 #7,886
1997 modern 543 #8,752
1998 modern 561 #8,782
1999 modern 563 #8,812
2000 modern 563 #8,781
2001 modern 543 #8,892
2002 modern 539 #9,120
2003 modern 525 #9,162
2004 modern 535 #9,041
2005 modern 521 #9,176
2006 modern 520 #9,208
2007 modern 518 #9,316
2008 modern 518 #9,388
2009 modern 526 #9,487
2010 modern 529 #9,640
2011 modern 512 #9,777
2012 modern 518 #9,629
2013 modern 527 #9,652
2014 modern 533 #9,627
2015 modern 527 #9,645
2016 modern 534 #9,515

Geography

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Where Bardells are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Kings Norton, London parishes, Ware (Ware). Hertford St John, Hertford All Saints and Birmingham Town: Birmingham. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Doncaster, Uttlesford, Teignbridge and Stoke-on-Trent. 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 Kings Norton Worcestershire
2 London parishes London 3
3 Ware (Ware). Hertford St John, Hertford All Saints Hertfordshire
4 London parishes London 2
5 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Doncaster 003 Doncaster
2 Uttlesford 009 Uttlesford
3 Doncaster 024 Doncaster
4 Teignbridge 007 Teignbridge
5 Stoke-on-Trent 013 Stoke-on-Trent

Forenames

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First names often paired with Bardell

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Bardell

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Bardell, 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

Baseline UK

Group

Challenged Communities

Nationally, the Bardell surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Challenged Communities, within Baseline UK. This does not mean every Bardell household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Residents of these neighbourhoods typically live in households with dependent children, and there are fewer-than-average residents of normal retirement age or over. Identification with ethnic minorities, particularly Black, or Mixed or Multiple ethnicities is common. The rate of Christian religious affiliation is low. Housing predominantly consists of semi-detached houses, along with a significant number of terraced properties and flats. Overcrowded social housing is common, and private renting occurs at average UK levels. Those in employment work mainly in caring leisure and other services; process, plant and machine operation; or elementary occupations. Unemployment is high, and few individuals have degree level qualifications. Many of these neighbourhoods occur in commuter towns or less accessible areas of larger towns and cities.

Wider pattern

This Supergroup exemplifies the broad base to the UK’s social structure, encompassing as it does the average or modal levels of many neighbourhood characteristics, including all housing tenures, a range of levels of educational attainment and religious affiliations, and a variety of pre-retirement age structures. Yet, in combination, these mixes are each distinctive of the parts of the UK. Overall, terraced houses and flats are the most prevalent, as is employment in intermediate or low-skilled occupations. However, this Supergroup is also characterised by above average levels of unemployment and lower levels of use of English as the main language. Many neighbourhoods occur in south London and the UK’s other major urban centres.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs

Group

Professional Periphery

Within London, Bardell is most associated with areas classed as Professional Periphery, 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

These neighbourhoods predominantly house residents aged 45+, with many aged 85+. Most employed residents work in senior roles, and relatively few work in unskilled jobs. Terraced housing is comparatively rare, but communal living is more common. More residents identify as of Indian ethnicity and more affiliate with non-Christian religions. Disability levels are below the Supergroup average.

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

Bardell 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

Bardell falls in decile 9 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.

9
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Bardell is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 60-70 mbit/s.

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

9
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

Meaning and origin of Bardell

The surname Bardell is of English origin, and is thought to have emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "bere", meaning barley, and "dell", meaning a valley or small hollow, suggesting the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in a valley where barley was grown.

One of the earliest known records of the name can be found in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379, where a John Bardell is listed as a resident of the village of Bradfield. This suggests the name was already well-established in that region by the late 14th century.

The Bardell surname is also documented in various historical records from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as parish registers and census records from counties like Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire. During this period, variations in spelling were common, with forms like Bardill, Bardyll, and Bardell all appearing in different records.

One notable individual with the Bardell surname was John Bardell, a farmer and landowner who lived in the village of Oxhill, Warwickshire in the late 16th century. Records show he was born around 1560 and died in 1634.

Another prominent figure was Robert Bardell, a merchant and shipowner from Hull, Yorkshire, who lived from 1625 to 1698. He was involved in the lucrative trade between England and the Baltic regions, and his name appears in various shipping records and commercial documents from the latter half of the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the Bardell name continued to be found primarily in the northern counties of England, with records showing individuals bearing the surname in places like Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Durham. One notable example is William Bardell, a farmer and landowner from the village of Epworth, Lincolnshire, who was born in 1712 and died in 1788.

Moving into the 19th century, the Bardell surname started to spread more widely across England, with families bearing the name appearing in various counties and cities. One individual of note from this period was Charles Bardell, a successful businessman and entrepreneur from London, who lived from 1824 to 1896.

Finally, in the early 20th century, there was a famous case in English legal history involving a woman named Mrs. Martha Bardell, who brought a groundbreaking lawsuit against her former employers in 1858. The "Bardell v. Pickwick" case, which was fictionalized in Charles Dickens' novel "The Pickwick Papers", helped to establish important principles of defamation law in England.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Bardell families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Bardell 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. Warwickshire leads with 89 Bardells recorded in 1881 and an index of 9.04x.

County Total Index
Warwickshire 89 9.04x
Essex 46 5.97x
Staffordshire 45 3.42x
Middlesex 43 1.10x
Hertfordshire 33 12.27x
Surrey 31 1.63x
Bedfordshire 23 11.38x
Norfolk 23 3.83x
Yorkshire 15 0.39x
Worcestershire 8 1.57x
Brecknockshire 7 8.97x
Hampshire 7 0.88x
Cambridgeshire 6 2.43x
Herefordshire 6 3.75x
Derbyshire 5 0.82x
Lancashire 4 0.09x
Northumberland 3 0.52x
Nottinghamshire 3 0.57x
Cheshire 1 0.12x
Huntingdonshire 1 1.29x
Lincolnshire 1 0.16x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Aston in Warwickshire leads with 45 Bardells recorded in 1881 and an index of 16.61x.

Place Total Index
Aston 45 16.61x
Birmingham 35 10.67x
Stoke Upon Trent 27 19.33x
Ware 24 311.28x
Waltham Holy Cross 19 263.89x
Middleton 17 1452.99x
Camberwell 13 5.22x
Brightside Bierlow 11 14.51x
Lambeth 10 2.94x
Brentwood 9 191.49x
Edgbaston 9 29.50x
Leighton Buzzard 9 103.57x
Wednesbury 9 27.35x
Kings Norton 8 17.51x
Tottenham 8 12.87x
Bethnal Green London 7 4.13x
Brecknock St David 7 333.33x
St Pancras London 7 2.23x
Bedford St Paul 6 43.29x
Bishops Frome 6 618.56x
Battersea 5 3.48x
Bilston 5 19.59x
Copford 5 561.80x
Hatfield Broad Oak 5 192.31x
Luton 5 14.30x
St George In East London 5 13.62x
Broxbourne 4 75.05x
Elm 4 165.29x
Hackney London 4 1.83x
High Ongar 4 281.69x
Islington London 4 1.06x
Lyndhurst 4 182.65x
Prescot 4 47.79x
South Lynn 4 59.08x
Tettenhall 4 49.69x
Clapham 3 370.37x
Elswick 3 6.48x
Normanton 3 25.82x
Paddington London 3 2.09x
Wilne 3 214.29x
Alfreton 2 10.78x
Brickendon 2 160.00x
Chesterton 2 26.25x
Newington 2 1.39x
Nottingham St Mary 2 1.47x
Shenfield 2 100.00x
St Marylebone London 2 0.96x
Arreton 1 39.06x
Aspenden 1 120.48x
Basford 1 4.13x
Bengeo 1 32.05x
Enfield 1 3.91x
Great Grimsby 1 2.53x
Great Munden 1 169.49x
Hammersmith London 1 1.04x
Kensington London 1 0.46x
Kings Lynn St Margaret 1 5.55x
Leighton 1 222.22x
Little Warley 1 93.46x
Macclesfield 1 2.61x
Nazeing 1 101.01x
Old Alresford 1 151.52x
Sheffield 1 0.81x
Southampton St Lawrence 1 238.10x
Walton On Thames 1 11.45x
West Winch 1 185.19x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Sarah 26
Mary 24
Elizabeth 12
Ann 8
Ellen 7
Alice 6
Emma 6
Harriet 6
Martha 6
Emily 5
Kate 5
Amy 4
Annie 4
Eliza 4
Florence 4
Hannah 4
Jane 4
Clara 3
Fanny 3
Ada 2
Beatrice 2
Caroline 2
Charlotte 2
Edith 2
Esther 2
Harriett 2
Jessie 2
Lizzie 2
Louisa 2
Marion 2
Betsey 1
Caterina 1
Daisy 1
Denoy 1
E.J. 1
Elenor 1
Eliz. 1
Elizth. 1
Ellin 1
Eva 1
Flora 1
Florry 1
Frances 1
Gertrude 1
Lester 1
Lilian 1
Lydia 1
Margaret 1
Maria 1
Susannah 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 25
John 23
George 18
Charles 15
Thomas 12
Arthur 10
Joseph 7
Ernest 6
Henry 6
Alfred 5
Herbert 5
James 5
Walter 5
Edward 4
Harry 4
Samuel 4
Albert 3
Frank 3
Frederic 2
Martha 2
Percy 2
Robert 2
Benjamin 1
Chas. 1
Daniel 1
David 1
Draper 1
Earnest 1
Edmond 1
Edwin 1
Frederick 1
Fredk. 1
Horace 1
Isaac 1
Jas. 1
Jesse 1
Jonathan 1
Jorahmed 1
Leonard 1
Mark 1
Moses 1
Oliver 1
Phoebe 1
Pruden 1
R. 1
R.W. 1
Ralph 1
Robertson 1
Rowland 1
Rupert 1

FAQ

Bardell surname: questions and answers

How common was the Bardell surname in 1881?

In 1881, 401 people were recorded with the Bardell surname. That placed it at #7,959 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Bardell surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 534 in 2016. That gives Bardell a modern rank of #9,515.

What does the Bardell surname mean?

An anglicized spelling of the French surname 'Bardelle', referring to a person from Bardelle.

What does the Bardell map show?

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