NameCensus.

UK surname

Behenna

An English surname derived from a place name in Cornwall, England.

In the 1881 census there were 146 people recorded with the Behenna surname, ranking it #15,752 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 124, ranked #26,975, down from #15,752 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, St Austell and Kenwyn, Tregavethan. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Huntingdonshire, Wolverhampton and Neath Port Talbot.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Behenna is 219 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has fallen by 15.1%.

1881 census count

146

Ranked #15,752

Modern count

124

2016, ranked #26,975

Peak year

1911

219 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Behenna had 146 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #15,752 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 124 in 2016, ranked #26,975.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 219 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Suburban Professionals.

Behenna surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Behenna surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Behenna 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 157 #12,504
1861 historical 128 #17,375
1881 historical 146 #15,752
1891 historical 154 #18,004
1901 historical 205 #14,884
1911 historical 219 #14,136
1997 modern 132 #22,821
1998 modern 131 #23,495
1999 modern 130 #23,805
2000 modern 134 #23,358
2001 modern 130 #23,457
2002 modern 130 #23,903
2003 modern 135 #23,155
2004 modern 141 #22,689
2005 modern 132 #23,623
2006 modern 132 #23,834
2007 modern 137 #23,590
2008 modern 133 #24,350
2009 modern 135 #24,594
2010 modern 141 #24,460
2011 modern 131 #25,430
2012 modern 125 #26,298
2013 modern 127 #26,452
2014 modern 127 #26,634
2015 modern 122 #27,245
2016 modern 124 #26,975

Geography

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Where Behennas are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, St Austell, Kenwyn, Tregavethan, Cardiff St John and St Mary and Kensington. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Huntingdonshire, Wolverhampton, Neath Port Talbot, Tameside and Peterborough. 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 St Austell Cornwall
3 Kenwyn, Tregavethan Cornwall
4 Cardiff St John and St Mary Glamorganshire
5 Kensington London (West Districts)

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Huntingdonshire 001 Huntingdonshire
2 Wolverhampton 015 Wolverhampton
3 Neath Port Talbot 015 Neath Port Talbot
4 Tameside 007 Tameside
5 Peterborough 017 Peterborough

Forenames

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First names often paired with Behenna

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Behenna

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

Ethnically Diverse Suburban Professionals

Group

Suburban Professionals

Nationally, the Behenna surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Suburban Professionals, within Ethnically Diverse Suburban Professionals. This does not mean every Behenna household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Employment in this Group is typically in managerial and professional occupations, and education to degree level is common. Residents are typically of working age, many of whom identify with an Indian ethnicity. Households are unlikely to be of Mixed or Multiple ethnicities, and English is not the main language used in some households. This Group is found on the outskirts of most conurbations as well as in the suburbs of some free-standing towns.

Wider pattern

Those working within the managerial, professional and administrative occupations typically reflect a wide range of ethnic groups, and reside in detached or semi-detached housing. Their residential locations at the edges of cities and conurbations and car-based lifestyles are more characteristic of Supergroup membership than birthplace or participation in child-rearing. Houses are typically owner-occupied and marriage rates are lower than the national average. This Supergroup is found throughout suburban UK.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Behenna is most associated with areas classed as Inner London Working Professionals, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. 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 primarily Inner London neighbourhoods are more densely populated than the Supergroup average. Residents have a younger over-all age profile than the Supergroup as a whole, and are less likely to be owner occupiers. Full time employment is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup and multiple car ownership is uncommon. Chinese and non-EU-born European migrants are less in evidence than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Behenna is most concentrated in decile 4 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.

4
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Behenna 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 Behenna 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 Behenna, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Behenna

The surname Behenna has its origins in Cornwall, England, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Cornish place name "Behenna," which means "little meadow" or "little valley." The name is a combination of the Cornish words "behen" (little) and "an" (the).

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Behenna can be found in the Protestation Returns of 1641-1642, where a Thomas Behenna is listed as a resident of St. Enoder, Cornwall. The surname also appears in various parish records and manorial rolls from the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily concentrated in the Cornish parishes of St. Enoder, St. Columb Major, and St. Mawgan.

Notable individuals with the surname Behenna include John Behenna (1784-1858), a Cornish miner and Methodist preacher who emigrated to Australia in the early 19th century. Another notable figure is Richard Behenna (1890-1965), a Cornish tin miner and trade union leader who played a significant role in the Cornish Miners' Strike of 1919.

In the literary world, Michael Behenna (1924-2016) was a Cornish poet and novelist known for his works that explored the lives and struggles of Cornish miners. His novel "The Cornish Riviera" (1984) was particularly acclaimed for its portrayal of the Cornish mining community.

Moving to more recent history, Major Nidal Malik Hasan (born 1970), the perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother whose maiden name was Behenna.

Another individual of note is Michael Behenna (born 1985), a former United States Army soldier who was convicted of unpremeditated murder in 2009 for the killing of an Iraqi prisoner during the Iraq War. His case garnered significant attention and sparked debates around the rules of engagement and the treatment of prisoners during the conflict.

While the Behenna surname has Cornish roots, it has since spread across various parts of the world, particularly in areas with strong Cornish diaspora communities, such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Behenna families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Behenna 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. Cornwall leads with 78 Behennas recorded in 1881 and an index of 48.38x.

County Total Index
Cornwall 78 48.38x
Devon 23 7.76x
Middlesex 22 1.54x
Glamorgan 9 3.63x
Surrey 7 1.01x
Kent 4 0.82x
Cheshire 3 0.95x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. St Clement in Cornwall leads with 15 Behennas recorded in 1881 and an index of 892.86x.

Place Total Index
St Clement 15 892.86x
Kensington London 11 13.89x
Falmouth 10 175.13x
Kenwyn 10 236.97x
Oystermouth 9 468.75x
Stoke Damerel 8 38.55x
Camberwell 7 7.69x
Beerferris 6 1034.48x
Redruth 6 131.58x
St Just In Roseland 6 845.07x
Feock 5 495.05x
St Austell 5 90.74x
Greenwich 4 17.64x
Mylor 4 370.37x
Plymouth Charles The 4 30.63x
St Pancras London 4 3.49x
Bodmin 3 112.36x
Devonport 3 87.98x
Lostwithel 3 652.17x
Mile End Old Town London 3 9.90x
St Ives 3 94.94x
Truro St Mary 3 222.22x
Chester St Oswald 2 35.15x
Roche 2 243.90x
East Stonehouse 1 17.12x
Hampstead London 1 4.51x
Helston 1 59.52x
Higher Bebington 1 49.75x
Illogan 1 23.42x
Paddington London 1 1.91x
Plymouth St Andrew 1 4.38x
St Bride London 1 120.48x
St Marylebone London 1 1.32x
St Teath 1 103.09x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 12
Elizabeth 8
Eliza 6
Jane 6
Emily 3
Annie 2
Grace 2
...na 1
Agnes 1
Alexandra 1
Amelia 1
Ann 1
Anna 1
Bertha 1
Bessy 1
Caroline 1
Dora 1
E.A. 1
E.G. 1
Emilia 1
Emma 1
Florence 1
Helen 1
Henrietta 1
Isabel 1
Julta 1
Katie 1
Louisa 1
M.E. 1
Mabel 1
Maggie 1
Margaret 1
Mc.E. 1
Pollie 1
Rose 1
Sarah 1
Susannah 1
W.M. 1
Winifred 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 7
James 6
John 6
Joseph 5
Thomas 5
Henry 4
Edward 3
Isaac 3
Richard 3
Wm. 3
Arthur 2
Charles 2
George 2
Harry 2
Albert 1
Bertie 1
E.C. 1
E.J. 1
Ed. 1
Ed.Lincoln 1
Edgar 1
Ferdinando 1
Fred 1
Frederick 1
Fredk. 1
Fredrick 1
Geo. 1
Harold 1
J.A. 1
Jas. 1
Joshua 1
Josiah 1
Morton 1
Saml. 1
Standly 1
Vernon 1

FAQ

Behenna surname: questions and answers

How common was the Behenna surname in 1881?

In 1881, 146 people were recorded with the Behenna surname. That placed it at #15,752 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Behenna surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 124 in 2016. That gives Behenna a modern rank of #26,975.

What does the Behenna surname mean?

An English surname derived from a place name in Cornwall, England.

What does the Behenna map show?

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