NameCensus.

UK surname

Capener

A surname possibly derived from a Flemish occupational name meaning "maker of capes or cloaks."

In the 1881 census there were 126 people recorded with the Capener surname, ranking it #17,245 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 283, ranked #15,359, up from #17,245 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Whitacre, Nether, Churcham, Sandhurst, St Mary-de-Lode, St Catherine Longford, Barnwood, Wootton Ville, North Hamlet, and Yardley. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Powys, Bedford and Hinckley and Bosworth.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Capener is 312 in 2002. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 124.6%.

1881 census count

126

Ranked #17,245

Modern count

283

2016, ranked #15,359

Peak year

2002

312 bearers

Map years

7

1881 to 2016

Key insights

  • Capener had 126 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #17,245 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 283 in 2016, ranked #15,359.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 264 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Capener surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Capener surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Capener 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 84 #19,067
1861 historical 78 #23,836
1881 historical 126 #17,245
1891 historical 171 #16,733
1901 historical 241 #13,417
1911 historical 264 #12,449
1997 modern 298 #13,593
1998 modern 295 #14,029
1999 modern 306 #13,782
2000 modern 299 #13,937
2001 modern 297 #13,816
2002 modern 312 #13,639
2003 modern 294 #14,002
2004 modern 285 #14,344
2005 modern 291 #14,105
2006 modern 289 #14,234
2007 modern 295 #14,198
2008 modern 294 #14,327
2009 modern 298 #14,480
2010 modern 310 #14,378
2011 modern 291 #14,903
2012 modern 277 #15,375
2013 modern 289 #15,142
2014 modern 288 #15,285
2015 modern 284 #15,344
2016 modern 283 #15,359

Geography

Back to top

Where Capeners are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Whitacre, Nether, Churcham, Sandhurst, St Mary-de-Lode, St Catherine Longford, Barnwood, Wootton Ville, North Hamlet,, Yardley, Halifax and London parishes. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Powys, Bedford, Hinckley and Bosworth and Walsall. 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 Whitacre, Nether Warwickshire
2 Churcham, Sandhurst, St Mary-de-Lode, St Catherine Longford, Barnwood, Wootton Ville, North Hamlet, Gloucestershire
3 Yardley Warwickshire
4 Halifax Yorkshire, West Riding
5 London parishes London 3

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Powys 008 Powys
2 Bedford 018 Bedford
3 Hinckley and Bosworth 011 Hinckley and Bosworth
4 Powys 009 Powys
5 Walsall 039 Walsall

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Capener

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Capener

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

Retired Professionals

Group

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Capener surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Capener household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

European Enclaves

Within London, Capener is most associated with areas classed as European Enclaves, 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

Many residents of these accessible neighbourhoods have wide-ranging non-UK European origins. Typically residing in privately rented flats, many residents live alone and are beyond normal retirement age. There are more students than elsewhere in the Supergroup, some of which live in communal establishments. Household residents are often drawn from different ethnic groups.

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

Capener 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

Capener 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 Capener is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of Over 70 mbit/s.

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

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

Meaning and origin of Capener

The surname Capener is of English origin and dates back to the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "cæpener," which referred to a maker or seller of caps or hoods. The name is closely related to the occupational surname "Capper," which also stems from this trade.

The Capener surname is believed to have first emerged in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in East Anglia, where the cap-making industry was prevalent during the 13th and 14th centuries. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various parish records and tax rolls from this region.

One notable early reference to the Capener name is in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire, from the year 1275, which mentions a "Robert le Capener." This suggests that the surname was already in use by the late 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Capener surname appears in various records, including the Subsidy Rolls for Gloucestershire in 1523, which lists a "Thomas Capener." Additionally, the Parish Registers of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, contain entries for several Capener families in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

One notable individual bearing the Capener surname was John Capener (c. 1569-1640), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Bury St. Edmunds, who served as a Member of Parliament for the borough in 1628. Another early figure was Richard Capener (c. 1610-1685), a clergyman and author from Gloucestershire, who published several religious works in the mid-17th century.

Other historical figures with the Capener surname include William Capener (1770-1854), a prominent English architect responsible for designing several churches and public buildings in Gloucestershire and Somerset, and Thomas Capener (1815-1895), a British artist and engraver known for his landscape paintings and etchings.

The Capener name has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Capener's Close in Norfolk, which likely took its name from a local Capener family residing in the area during the medieval or early modern period.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

Back to top

Capener families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Capener 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. Gloucestershire leads with 44 Capeners recorded in 1881 and an index of 18.11x.

County Total Index
Gloucestershire 44 18.11x
Warwickshire 22 7.04x
Staffordshire 13 3.11x
Devon 8 3.10x
Kent 8 1.89x
Lancashire 7 0.48x
Northamptonshire 6 5.15x
Cheshire 5 1.83x
Middlesex 5 0.40x
Yorkshire 5 0.41x
Berkshire 2 2.15x
West Lothian 1 5.36x
Worcestershire 1 0.62x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Gloucester Barton St Mary in Gloucestershire leads with 19 Capeners recorded in 1881 and an index of 426.97x.

Place Total Index
Gloucester Barton St Mary 19 426.97x
Stoke Upon Trent 12 27.06x
Aston 10 11.63x
Painswick 8 465.12x
Exminster 7 752.69x
North Nibley 7 2000.00x
Daventry 6 363.64x
Deptford St Paul 5 15.34x
Elland Cum Greetland 5 90.42x
Habergham Eaves 5 37.23x
Higher Bebington 5 285.71x
Birmingham 4 3.84x
Prescott 4 13333.33x
Gloucester Barton St 3 211.27x
Nuneaton 3 82.87x
Clewer 2 52.49x
Fillongley 2 444.44x
Gloucester Kingsholm St 2 219.78x
Greenwich 2 10.14x
Paddington London 2 4.39x
Westminster St John 2 13.26x
Blean 1 344.83x
Burnley 1 8.08x
Cam 1 133.33x
Coundon 1 833.33x
Dalmeny 1 140.85x
Edgbaston 1 10.32x
Exeter St Sidwell 1 16.92x
Hopton Coton 1 169.49x
Kings Norton 1 6.90x
Moston 1 68.03x
Nether Whitacre 1 400.00x
St Pancras London 1 1.00x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Elizabeth 6
Mary 5
Sarah 4
Annie 2
Ellen 2
Kate 2
Louisa 2
Mitilda 2
Sophia 2
Ada 1
Agnes 1
Alice 1
Allice 1
Amelia 1
Amy 1
Ann 1
Caroline 1
Carrie 1
Charlotte 1
Clara 1
Edith 1
Eliza 1
Emilie 1
Emily 1
Emma 1
Fanney 1
Fanny 1
Florence 1
Georgina 1
Gertrude 1
Hannah 1
Janet 1
Jessie 1
Laura 1
Lucy 1
Martha 1
Minnie 1
Patience 1
Rose 1
Salinia 1
Selina 1

Top male names

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

FAQ

Capener surname: questions and answers

How common was the Capener surname in 1881?

In 1881, 126 people were recorded with the Capener surname. That placed it at #17,245 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Capener surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 283 in 2016. That gives Capener a modern rank of #15,359.

What does the Capener surname mean?

A surname possibly derived from a Flemish occupational name meaning "maker of capes or cloaks."

What does the Capener map show?

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