NameCensus.

UK surname

Birmingham

A locational surname referring to someone from the city of Birmingham, England, derived from Old English meaning "homestead of the Beorma people."

In the 1881 census there were 735 people recorded with the Birmingham surname, ranking it #4,985 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 1,039, ranked #5,608, down from #4,985 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Manchester and Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil and St. Helens.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Birmingham is 1,087 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 41.4%.

1881 census count

735

Ranked #4,985

Modern count

1,039

2016, ranked #5,608

Peak year

2010

1,087 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Birmingham had 735 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #4,985 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 1,039 in 2016, ranked #5,608.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 798 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Birmingham surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Birmingham surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Birmingham 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 395 #6,095
1861 historical 514 #5,094
1881 historical 735 #4,985
1891 historical 751 #5,305
1901 historical 746 #5,965
1911 historical 798 #5,480
1997 modern 1,015 #5,427
1998 modern 1,064 #5,393
1999 modern 1,069 #5,400
2000 modern 1,071 #5,377
2001 modern 1,043 #5,398
2002 modern 1,065 #5,411
2003 modern 1,031 #5,460
2004 modern 1,034 #5,462
2005 modern 1,032 #5,404
2006 modern 1,016 #5,487
2007 modern 1,044 #5,422
2008 modern 1,021 #5,555
2009 modern 1,057 #5,519
2010 modern 1,087 #5,493
2011 modern 1,062 #5,534
2012 modern 1,029 #5,601
2013 modern 1,061 #5,546
2014 modern 1,067 #5,553
2015 modern 1,050 #5,575
2016 modern 1,039 #5,608

Geography

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Where Birminghams are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Manchester, Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry, St Marylebone and Liverpool. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, St. Helens, Halton and Bury. 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 Manchester Lancashire
3 Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry Forfar
4 St Marylebone London (North Districts)
5 Liverpool Lancashire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Carmarthenshire 027 Carmarthenshire
2 Merthyr Tydfil 006 Merthyr Tydfil
3 St. Helens 020 St. Helens
4 Halton 003 Halton
5 Bury 016 Bury

Forenames

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First names often paired with Birmingham

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Birmingham

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

Young Families and Mainstream Employment

Group

Social Rented Sector and Diverse Origins

Within London, Birmingham is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector and Diverse Origins, part of Young Families and Mainstream Employment. 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

Scattered across London’s Inner and Outer suburbs, residents of these neighbourhoods are typically housed in the social rented sector. Although terraced and semi-detached houses predominate, more residents live in flats than elsewhere in the Supergroup. Neighbourhoods are more ethnically diverse than the Supergroup average. Those identifying as of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and some Black ethnicities are more prevalent. Europeans born in a overseas non-EU countries make up more of the lower proportion of residents identifying as White. Few residents are very old (85+). Employment in distribution, hotels and restaurants is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

Wider London pattern

Many families in these neighbourhoods have young children. Housing is principally in the social rented sector, in terraced or semi-detached units. While over-all residential densities are low, overcrowding is also prevalent locally. Residents are drawn from a range of ethnic minorities, with many identifying as Black and above average numbers born in Africa. Numbers identifying as of Chinese, Indian or White ethnicity are below average. Levels of proficiency in English are below average. Levels of separation or divorce and incidence of disability are both above average. Education is typically limited to Level 1, 2, or apprenticeship qualifications. Few residents work in professional or managerial occupations but the employment structure is otherwise diverse: it includes skilled trades, caring, leisure and other service occupations, sales and customer service occupations, construction, and work as process, plant, and machine operatives.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Birmingham is most concentrated in decile 10 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the healthier end of the index.

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

10
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Birmingham falls in decile 2 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

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

2
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Birmingham is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 50-60 mbit/s.

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

8
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

Meaning and origin of Birmingham

The surname BIRMINGHAM is of English origin, derived from the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands region of England. The name is thought to have originated in the late 11th or early 12th century, around the time of the Norman Conquest.

Birmingham is believed to have its roots in the Old English words "Bremming" and "ham," meaning "homestead" or "settlement of the Bremming people." The Bremmings were an Anglo-Saxon tribe or family group that settled in the area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name BIRMINGHAM can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population undertaken by William the Conqueror. Although the spelling varied slightly, the entry likely referred to the same area that would later become known as Birmingham.

By the 13th century, the name had evolved to its modern spelling, and records show individuals bearing the surname BIRMINGHAM residing in various parts of England, particularly in the West Midlands region and surrounding areas.

Notable individuals with the surname BIRMINGHAM throughout history include:

1. John de Birmingham (c. 1200-1265), an English nobleman and Baron of Birmingham. 2. Sir John Birmingham (c. 1350-1416), a Member of Parliament and landowner from Warwickshire. 3. Thomas Birmingham (c. 1505-1572), a Protestant reformer and Church of England clergyman. 4. Edward Birmingham (1719-1765), an English poet and playwright. 5. John Birmingham (1816-1884), an Irish-American industrialist and founder of the Birmingham Iron Works in Pennsylvania.

As the city of Birmingham grew in prominence during the Industrial Revolution, the surname BIRMINGHAM became more widely spread, with many families adopting it as a locational name, indicating their origins or residence in the city or surrounding areas.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Birmingham families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Birmingham 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 222 Birminghams recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.58x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 222 2.58x
Middlesex 88 1.21x
Yorkshire 65 0.90x
Surrey 47 1.33x
Hampshire 34 2.29x
Devon 29 1.92x
Cheshire 26 1.62x
Oxfordshire 21 4.69x
Glamorgan 20 1.58x
Perthshire 18 5.53x
Kent 17 0.69x
Staffordshire 14 0.57x
Berkshire 13 2.39x
Buckinghamshire 13 2.96x
Derbyshire 11 0.97x
Somerset 10 0.86x
Angus 9 1.34x
Durham 9 0.42x
Dunbartonshire 8 4.10x
Nottinghamshire 8 0.82x
Gloucestershire 7 0.49x
Pembrokeshire 7 3.03x
Warwickshire 7 0.38x
Channel Islands 6 2.79x
Lincolnshire 5 0.43x
Sussex 4 0.33x
Cumberland 3 0.48x
Essex 3 0.21x
Herefordshire 3 1.01x
Lanarkshire 3 0.13x
Royal Navy 3 3.47x
Worcestershire 3 0.32x
Dorset 2 0.42x
Wiltshire 2 0.31x
Anglesey 1 0.78x
Hertfordshire 1 0.20x
Midlothian 1 0.10x
Northumberland 1 0.09x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Liverpool in Lancashire leads with 59 Birminghams recorded in 1881 and an index of 11.28x.

Place Total Index
Liverpool 59 11.28x
Manchester 52 13.43x
Huddersfield 24 22.91x
Salford 15 5.92x
Oldham 14 5.04x
Bethnal Green London 13 4.12x
Dewsbury 13 17.62x
St Marylebone London 13 3.35x
Plymouth St Andrew 12 10.31x
Stoke Poges 12 224.30x
Rattray 11 145.12x
Lambeth 10 1.58x
Selby 10 66.53x
St Pancras London 10 1.71x
Birkenhead 9 7.05x
Bow London 8 8.66x
Bray 8 49.97x
Cardross 8 34.16x
Leeds 8 1.97x
Selworthy 8 784.31x
Send Ripley 8 173.54x
Pembroke St Mary 7 23.57x
Perth East Church 7 22.79x
Southwark Christchurch 7 20.58x
St Michael Bassishaw 7 1320.75x
Wolverhampton 7 3.72x
Basing 6 215.83x
Basingstoke 6 35.07x
Battersea 6 2.25x
Binsted 6 105.82x
Camberwell 6 1.29x
Dartford 6 23.70x
Enfield 6 12.60x
Farnworth 6 11.63x
Ilfracombe 6 38.59x
Liff Benvie 6 5.88x
Oxford St Peter In East 6 348.84x
St Helier 6 8.57x
Warrington 6 5.88x
Aston 5 0.99x
Boothby Pagnell 5 1562.50x
Cardiff St John 5 12.11x
Crumpsall 5 24.63x
Derby All Sts 5 52.69x
Gloucester Longford St 5 259.07x
Leek Lowe 5 15.34x
Limehouse London 5 6.28x
Llandaff 5 11.89x
Macclesfield 5 7.02x
Merthyr Tydfil 5 4.12x
Nether Hallam 5 5.14x
Oxford St Aldate 5 105.93x
Poughill 5 769.23x
St Giles In Fields London 5 14.04x
Uxbridge 5 60.31x
Wavertree 5 18.14x
Bradford 4 9.92x
Cheetham 4 6.23x
Everton 4 1.46x
Headley 4 476.19x
Heworth 4 9.40x
Ludworth 4 74.77x
Newton 4 6.03x
Radcliffe 4 9.64x
Stockport 4 4.85x
Swansea Town 4 3.86x
Tetsworth 4 377.36x
Aldershot 3 6.02x
Bermondsey 3 1.39x
Bury 3 3.05x
Cleator 3 11.53x
Crondall 3 37.55x
Croydon 3 1.53x
Dundee 3 1.20x
Islington London 3 0.43x
Newchurch 3 4.26x
Romsey Extra 3 33.90x
Royal Navy 3 4.06x
Stockton On Tees 3 2.88x
West Bridgford 3 309.28x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 79
Ann 16
Margaret 16
Ellen 13
Sarah 13
Annie 12
Eliza 12
Bridget 11
Elizabeth 11
Alice 10
Kate 9
Catherine 8
Jane 8
Emma 7
Anne 4
Fanny 4
Hannah 4
Maria 4
Francis 3
Harriet 3
Ada 2
Amy 2
Bessie 2
Charlotte 2
Clara 2
Emily 2
Ethel 2
Florence 2
Georgena 2
Harriett 2
Julia 2
Katharine 2
Louisa 2
Margt. 2
Rosa 2
Rose 2
Susan 2
Susannah 2
Theresa 2
Brigett 1
Carloing 1
Caroline 1
Elizh. 1
Elizth. 1
Elza 1
Esther 1
Henry 1
Isabel 1
Jessie 1
Winifred 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 60
James 38
William 36
Thomas 32
Michael 18
Patrick 14
Edward 12
Henry 12
George 10
Peter 9
Charles 6
Albert 5
Daniel 5
Richard 5
Thos. 5
Alfred 4
Arthur 4
Harry 4
Joseph 4
Robert 4
Andrew 3
Frederick 3
Bernard 2
Chas. 2
David 2
Edwin 2
Frank 2
Fred 2
Fredk. 2
Jas. 2
Lewis 2
Martin 2
Michl. 2
Patk. 2
Ricd. 2
Wm. 2
Archy 1
Bryan 1
Christopher 1
Ed. 1
Eli 1
Elias 1
Ernest 1
Fredk.Wm. 1
Fredrick 1
Jesse 1
Jozial 1
Leonard 1
Lillian 1
Louis 1

FAQ

Birmingham surname: questions and answers

How common was the Birmingham surname in 1881?

In 1881, 735 people were recorded with the Birmingham surname. That placed it at #4,985 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Birmingham surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 1,039 in 2016. That gives Birmingham a modern rank of #5,608.

What does the Birmingham surname mean?

A locational surname referring to someone from the city of Birmingham, England, derived from Old English meaning "homestead of the Beorma people."

What does the Birmingham map show?

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