NameCensus.

UK surname

Coleman

An occupational surname referring to someone who gathered or sold charcoal, or lived near a coal mine.

In the 1881 census there were 14,894 people recorded with the Coleman surname, ranking it #267 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 25,389, ranked #225, up from #267 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and St Pancras. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include North West Leicestershire, Kettering and Forest of Dean.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Coleman is 26,223 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 70.5%.

1881 census count

14,894

Ranked #267

Modern count

25,389

2016, ranked #225

Peak year

2010

26,223 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Coleman had 14,894 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #267 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 25,389 in 2016, ranked #225.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 21,597 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Coleman surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Coleman surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Coleman 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 9,149 #290
1861 historical 9,942 #263
1881 historical 14,894 #267
1891 historical 16,318 #252
1901 historical 19,740 #245
1911 historical 21,597 #199
1997 modern 25,170 #215
1998 modern 25,922 #219
1999 modern 26,081 #219
2000 modern 25,917 #219
2001 modern 25,324 #218
2002 modern 25,911 #219
2003 modern 25,325 #218
2004 modern 25,195 #221
2005 modern 24,706 #220
2006 modern 24,706 #223
2007 modern 24,959 #223
2008 modern 25,031 #223
2009 modern 25,701 #223
2010 modern 26,223 #224
2011 modern 25,788 #223
2012 modern 25,236 #224
2013 modern 25,746 #225
2014 modern 25,864 #224
2015 modern 25,537 #225
2016 modern 25,389 #225

Geography

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Where Colemans are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes, St Pancras and Lambeth. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to North West Leicestershire, Kettering, Forest of Dean, Fenland and Waveney. 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 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 St Pancras London (North Districts)
5 Lambeth London (South Districts)

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 North West Leicestershire 013 North West Leicestershire
2 Kettering 011 Kettering
3 Forest of Dean 003 Forest of Dean
4 Fenland 002 Fenland
5 Waveney 012 Waveney

Forenames

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First names often paired with Coleman

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Coleman

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

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Coleman is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. 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

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Coleman is most concentrated in decile 8 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.

8
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Coleman falls in decile 6 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

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

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Coleman

The surname Coleman originated in England and Ireland during the medieval period. It is derived from the occupational name for a charcoal burner or collier, from the Old English word "col" meaning coal or charcoal. The name is also found with the spellings Colman, Colemon, Coullman, and Coulman.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Colman". This suggests the name was already well-established by the 11th century in parts of England.

In Ireland, the surname Coleman is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name "O'Colmain" or "O'Colman", which means "descendant of Colman". The name is particularly associated with County Sligo and County Mayo.

Notable people with the surname Coleman include William Coleman (c. 1609-1698), an English-born Puritan settler in America who founded the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Another early bearer was Edward Coleman (c. 1636-1678), an English Catholic involved in the Popish Plot against King Charles II.

In the 18th century, Benjamin Coleman (1734-1805) was an English-born architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in Boston, Massachusetts. The 19th century saw the birth of Samuel Coleman (1826-1900), an English-born businessman and philanthropist who founded the village of Coleman's Hatch in Sussex.

One of the most famous Colemans was Gary Coleman (1968-2010), an American actor best known for his childhood role on the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes". Other notable bearers include Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), an American jazz saxophonist and composer, and Basil Coleman (1904-1995), an English actor.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Coleman families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Coleman 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. Middlesex leads with 2,427 Colemans recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.67x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 2,427 1.67x
Kent 1,061 2.14x
Surrey 1,042 1.47x
Lancashire 911 0.53x
Sussex 653 2.66x
Yorkshire 604 0.42x
Warwickshire 540 1.47x
Northamptonshire 501 3.66x
Leicestershire 497 3.08x
Suffolk 463 2.61x
Hampshire 408 1.37x
Gloucestershire 394 1.38x
Devon 393 1.30x
Somerset 381 1.63x
Norfolk 372 1.66x
Staffordshire 354 0.72x
Buckinghamshire 335 3.81x
Nottinghamshire 315 1.61x
Essex 303 1.05x
Wiltshire 301 2.34x
Oxfordshire 270 3.00x
Bedfordshire 259 3.44x
Glamorgan 258 1.02x
Durham 219 0.51x
Hertfordshire 198 1.97x
Cheshire 148 0.46x
Monmouthshire 105 1.00x
Lanarkshire 102 0.22x
Derbyshire 97 0.43x
Worcestershire 95 0.50x
Dorset 92 0.96x
Cambridgeshire 88 0.95x
Berkshire 87 0.80x
Cornwall 86 0.52x
Lincolnshire 78 0.34x
Herefordshire 67 1.12x
Angus 58 0.43x
Midlothian 58 0.30x
Northumberland 40 0.18x
Royal Navy 36 2.08x
Renfrewshire 33 0.29x
Shropshire 27 0.21x
Huntingdonshire 25 0.86x
Brecknockshire 21 0.72x
Ayrshire 14 0.13x
Radnorshire 14 1.19x
Rutland 14 1.31x
Montgomeryshire 13 0.39x
West Lothian 13 0.59x
Denbighshire 11 0.20x
Dunbartonshire 10 0.26x
Aberdeenshire 4 0.03x
Channel Islands 4 0.09x
Fife 4 0.05x
Westmorland 4 0.13x
Wigtownshire 4 0.21x
Isle of Man 3 0.11x
Pembrokeshire 3 0.06x
Perthshire 2 0.03x
Anglesey 1 0.04x
Carmarthenshire 1 0.02x
Cumberland 1 0.01x
Dumfriesshire 1 0.03x
Merionethshire 1 0.04x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. St Pancras London in Middlesex leads with 231 Colemans recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.97x.

Place Total Index
St Pancras London 231 1.97x
Islington London 221 1.57x
Kensington London 189 2.34x
Birmingham 175 1.43x
Lambeth 154 1.21x
St Marylebone London 147 1.89x
Leicester St Margaret 142 3.61x
Aston 121 1.20x
Battersea 113 2.11x
Paddington London 112 2.09x
Liverpool 103 0.98x
Hackney London 98 1.20x
Shoreditch London 96 1.52x
Lowestoft 92 10.98x
Camberwell 89 0.96x
Mile End Old Town London 86 2.78x
Newington 83 1.54x
Portsea 83 1.42x
Bermondsey 81 1.87x
Brighton 78 1.58x
Manchester 77 0.99x
Bethnal Green London 74 1.17x
Selston 72 32.85x
Luton 71 5.44x
Leeds 70 0.86x
Chelsea London 69 1.57x
Croydon 61 1.55x
Tottenham 61 2.63x
St George Hanover Square 60 2.34x
Lakenheath 59 63.01x
Frome 58 10.35x
West Ham 58 0.91x
Clerkenwell London 55 1.60x
Tonbridge 54 3.01x
Westminster St John 54 3.05x
Nottingham St Mary 53 1.04x
Wolverhampton 47 1.24x
Deptford St Paul 46 1.20x
Dundee 46 0.91x
Greenwich 44 1.90x
Southwark St George Martyr 44 1.50x
West Derby 43 0.85x
Herstmonceaux 42 56.91x
Leicester St Mary 42 3.22x
Stoke Upon Trent 42 0.81x
Clapham 41 2.25x
Whitechapel London 41 2.86x
Merthyr Tydfil 40 1.64x
Northampton All Sts 40 8.61x
Oldham 40 0.72x
Silverstone 40 69.25x
St Giles In Fields London 40 5.60x
Kettering 39 7.04x
Trevethin 39 3.92x
Ratcliffe London 38 4.73x
Ventnor 38 13.39x
Eastbourne 37 3.28x
Hammersmith London 37 1.03x
Wycombe 37 5.64x
Barony 36 0.30x
Bloxham 36 40.83x
Plymouth St Andrew 36 1.54x
Royal Navy 36 2.43x
St George In East London 36 2.63x
St Luke London 36 1.54x
Toxteth Park 36 0.62x
Maresfield 35 33.83x
Sheffield 35 0.76x
Tamworth 35 13.32x
Great Burstead 34 32.50x
Wandsworth 34 2.43x
Bradford 33 0.94x
Great Yarmouth 33 1.78x
Everton 32 0.58x
Lewisham 32 1.21x
Margate St John Baptist 32 3.52x
Salford 32 0.63x
Limehouse London 31 1.94x
Sutton In Ashfield 31 7.28x
Whitstable 31 12.72x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 988
Elizabeth 489
Sarah 468
Ellen 268
Eliza 250
Ann 244
Emma 232
Jane 226
Alice 192
Annie 191
Emily 184
Margaret 138
Hannah 122
Charlotte 119
Martha 115
Caroline 110
Louisa 110
Catherine 102
Harriet 99
Fanny 95
Maria 94
Kate 86
Florence 84
Ada 82
Edith 79
Frances 77
Clara 70
Rose 58
Harriett 57
Anne 56
Lucy 56
Julia 49
Susan 49
Bridget 48
Agnes 46
Amelia 41
Rebecca 37
Sophia 37
Jessie 33
Minnie 32
Elizth. 31
Matilda 31
Esther 28
Gertrude 27
Isabella 26
Laura 25
Beatrice 21
Selina 21
Helen 20
Maud 20

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 852
John 842
George 499
James 491
Thomas 428
Charles 345
Henry 323
Edward 209
Joseph 186
Alfred 184
Arthur 177
Frederick 177
Samuel 127
Walter 122
Robert 116
Albert 112
Richard 98
Harry 84
Frank 80
Patrick 66
Ernest 62
Michael 57
David 52
Daniel 50
Herbert 50
Francis 49
Edwin 43
Wm. 35
Stephen 32
Thos. 27
Benjamin 26
Peter 25
Mark 24
Fred 23
Sidney 22
Edmund 21
Matthew 21
Fredk. 19
Timothy 18
Tom 18
Isaac 17
Martin 17
Abraham 15
Alexander 15
Chas. 15
Philip 15
Fredrick 14
Geo. 14
Leonard 13
Edgar 12

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Coleman households.

FAQ

Coleman surname: questions and answers

How common was the Coleman surname in 1881?

In 1881, 14,894 people were recorded with the Coleman surname. That placed it at #267 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Coleman surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 25,389 in 2016. That gives Coleman a modern rank of #225.

What does the Coleman surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to someone who gathered or sold charcoal, or lived near a coal mine.

What does the Coleman map show?

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