NameCensus.

UK surname

Cork

An English occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of cork, or a person from Cork, Ireland.

In the 1881 census there were 2,249 people recorded with the Cork surname, ranking it #1,980 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 2,169, ranked #2,982, down from #1,980 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Wolstanton and Lambeth. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Carlisle, Dover and Cheshire East.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Cork is 3,033 in 1891. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 3.6%.

1881 census count

2,249

Ranked #1,980

Modern count

2,169

2016, ranked #2,982

Peak year

1891

3,033 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Cork had 2,249 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,980 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 2,169 in 2016, ranked #2,982.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 3,033 in 1891.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Cork surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Cork surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Cork 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 1,632 #1,760
1861 historical 2,748 #1,068
1881 historical 2,249 #1,980
1891 historical 3,033 #1,552
1901 historical 2,240 #2,417
1911 historical 2,521 #2,029
1997 modern 2,259 #2,748
1998 modern 2,436 #2,669
1999 modern 2,472 #2,655
2000 modern 2,356 #2,751
2001 modern 2,299 #2,759
2002 modern 2,356 #2,751
2003 modern 2,271 #2,784
2004 modern 2,234 #2,831
2005 modern 2,200 #2,839
2006 modern 2,203 #2,836
2007 modern 2,159 #2,901
2008 modern 2,193 #2,890
2009 modern 2,267 #2,870
2010 modern 2,294 #2,907
2011 modern 2,256 #2,914
2012 modern 2,159 #2,964
2013 modern 2,212 #2,949
2014 modern 2,214 #2,963
2015 modern 2,187 #2,973
2016 modern 2,169 #2,982

Geography

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Where Corks are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Wolstanton, Lambeth and Hellesdon, St Mary in the Marsh, St Clement, St Martin at Oak, St Mary at Coslany, St Michael at Cos. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Carlisle, Dover, Cheshire East, North Norfolk and Mid Devon. 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 Wolstanton Staffordshire
3 London parishes London 3
4 Lambeth London (South Districts)
5 Hellesdon, St Mary in the Marsh, St Clement, St Martin at Oak, St Mary at Coslany, St Michael at Cos Norfolk

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Carlisle 008 Carlisle
2 Dover 001 Dover
3 Cheshire East 035 Cheshire East
4 North Norfolk 010 North Norfolk
5 Mid Devon 006 Mid Devon

Forenames

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First names often paired with Cork

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Cork

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

Terraced and Semi-Detached Suburbs

Within London, Cork is most associated with areas classed as Terraced and Semi-Detached Suburbs, 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

Mainly concentrated in suburban areas, these terraced and semi-detached developments are less overcrowded than the Supergroup average, and resident households are more likely to own two or more cars. There are fewer residents aged 25-44, and a larger share of residents employed in administrative and secretarial occupations. Residents are more likely to have been born in the UK, less likely to have been born in the EU or Africa, and much less likely to self-identify as Bangladeshi.

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

Cork 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

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

Meaning and origin of Cork

The surname Cork originates from England, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It likely derives from the Old English word "corc," which means "cork tree" or "cork oak." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a cork oak tree or a location associated with cork trees.

In medieval times, Cork was a locational surname, indicating that the bearer hailed from a place called Cork. This could refer to various locations in England, such as Cork in Dorset or Cork Street in London. The earliest known record of the surname is found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it appears as "de Cork."

The name Cork is also closely linked to the city of Cork in Ireland. While the city's name is of uncertain origin, it may have been named after the Cork family who held lands in the area during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. The earliest recorded instance of the surname in Ireland dates back to 1343, when John de Cork is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Cloyne.

Historically, the surname Cork has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Sir John de Cork, a 14th-century English knight who served as the Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset in 1356. Another notable bearer was Edmund Cork (1542-1609), an English lawyer and Member of Parliament who served as the Recorder of Bristol.

In the 17th century, Sir Richard Cork (1602-1668) was a prominent English merchant and Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis. His grandson, Richard Cork (1672-1723), inherited the family estate and became the first Earl of Cork and Orrery in 1698.

Moving into the 18th century, Nathaniel Cork (1726-1796) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands Station during the American Revolutionary War.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Cork was the British artist and art critic Richard Cork (1947-present), known for his contributions to contemporary art criticism and his writings on artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Cork families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Cork 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. Kent leads with 414 Corks recorded in 1881 and an index of 5.60x.

County Total Index
Kent 414 5.60x
Middlesex 255 1.18x
Staffordshire 210 2.87x
Lancashire 200 0.78x
Norfolk 157 4.72x
Surrey 133 1.26x
Yorkshire 125 0.58x
Cheshire 116 2.43x
Sussex 88 2.41x
Devon 84 1.86x
Durham 45 0.70x
Warwickshire 36 0.66x
Suffolk 33 1.25x
Berkshire 31 1.91x
Hampshire 29 0.65x
Worcestershire 23 0.81x
Lanarkshire 21 0.30x
Somerset 20 0.57x
Shropshire 19 1.02x
Essex 18 0.42x
Gloucestershire 18 0.42x
Leicestershire 14 0.58x
Cornwall 13 0.53x
Glamorgan 13 0.34x
Northumberland 12 0.37x
Hertfordshire 10 0.67x
Bedfordshire 9 0.80x
Brecknockshire 9 2.08x
Northamptonshire 9 0.44x
Midlothian 8 0.28x
Wiltshire 8 0.42x
Roxburghshire 7 1.78x
Derbyshire 6 0.18x
Lincolnshire 6 0.17x
Oxfordshire 3 0.22x
Ayrshire 2 0.12x
Cambridgeshire 2 0.15x
Dorset 2 0.14x
Herefordshire 2 0.23x
Monmouthshire 2 0.13x
Nottinghamshire 2 0.07x
Buckinghamshire 1 0.08x
Channel Islands 1 0.16x
Fife 1 0.08x
Inverness-shire 1 0.15x
Peeblesshire 1 0.98x
Royal Navy 1 0.39x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Wolstanton Chesterton in Staffordshire leads with 60 Corks recorded in 1881 and an index of 160.60x.

Place Total Index
Wolstanton Chesterton 60 160.60x
Great Little Marsden 37 31.43x
Islington London 34 1.62x
Lambeth 34 1.80x
Stoke Upon Trent 34 4.39x
Birmingham 29 1.59x
Audley 26 35.95x
Hackney London 24 1.98x
Heigham 23 12.87x
St Pancras London 23 1.32x
Bermondsey 22 3.41x
Rochester St Margaret 22 28.23x
Tonbridge 22 8.26x
Margate St John Baptist 20 14.78x
North Walsham 20 83.30x
Chartham 19 103.20x
Chatham 19 9.35x
Leeds 19 1.57x
Minster In Sheppey 19 15.52x
Camberwell 17 1.23x
Colne 17 22.21x
Gillingham 17 11.16x
Bradfield 16 946.75x
Kensington London 16 1.33x
Mile End Old Town London 16 3.47x
Strood 16 37.96x
Warrington 16 5.25x
Frindsbury 15 53.88x
Harbledown 15 280.90x
Hartlip 15 526.32x
Hooe 15 431.03x
Newington 15 1.88x
Burslem 14 6.69x
High Offley 14 232.17x
Overstrand 14 823.53x
Ramsgate 14 11.61x
Brighton 13 1.76x
Kirkdale 13 3.01x
Whitchurch 13 35.80x
Audlem 12 106.48x
Bingley 12 8.78x
Haswell 12 25.99x
Newton St Cyres 12 189.87x
Sculcoates 12 3.53x
Shoreditch London 12 1.28x
Canterbury St Mary 11 22.19x
Canterbury St Mildred 11 62.75x
Hunslet 11 3.29x
Nantwich 11 19.81x
Reading St Mary 11 8.45x
Staple 11 284.97x
Wolstanton 11 4.95x
Clayhidon 10 228.31x
Dover St Mary Virgin 10 13.98x
Farnborough 10 21.45x
Govan 10 0.58x
Hammersmith London 10 1.87x
Ipswich St Mary Stoke 10 40.85x
Monks Coppenhall 10 5.54x
Skipton 10 14.81x
Stalham 10 156.99x
Uffculme 10 74.46x
Abingdon St Helen 9 18.94x
Builth 9 83.41x
Charlton 9 18.34x
Dawdon 9 11.36x
East Hoathly 9 141.73x
Folkestone 9 6.28x
Liverpool 9 0.58x
Maresfield 9 58.48x
Marston 9 123.80x
West Ham 9 0.95x
Westminster St James 9 4.04x
Bethnal Green London 8 0.85x
Bromley London 8 1.68x
Burnley 8 3.70x
Chelsea London 8 1.23x
Paddington London 8 1.00x
Stafford St Mary 8 7.73x
Swaffham 8 29.53x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 133
Elizabeth 85
Sarah 79
Jane 55
Ann 45
Alice 42
Eliza 36
Emma 34
Ellen 32
Emily 30
Annie 29
Maria 22
Martha 19
Harriet 18
Charlotte 17
Fanny 17
Hannah 15
Louisa 15
Margaret 15
Susannah 15
Ada 14
Florence 14
Susan 14
Edith 13
Caroline 10
Harriett 10
Frances 9
Clara 8
Isabella 8
Agnes 7
Anne 6
Gertrude 6
Kate 6
Laura 6
Lydia 6
Francis 5
Julia 5
Lucy 5
Matilda 5
Rebecca 5
Rose 5
Amelia 4
Beatrice 4
Bertha 4
Dinah 4
Esther 4
Jessie 4
Ruth 4
Agness 3
Amy 3

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 140
John 106
George 100
James 71
Charles 56
Thomas 52
Henry 49
Robert 32
Samuel 31
Alfred 25
Edward 24
Joseph 23
Frederick 22
Arthur 20
Walter 18
Albert 13
Harry 12
Ernest 11
Richard 11
Stephen 10
Herbert 9
Benjamin 8
Frank 8
Daniel 7
David 7
Edwin 7
Wm. 7
Christopher 6
Fred 5
Thos. 5
Job 4
Alexander 3
Amos 3
Clement 3
Francis 3
Jas. 3
Jesse 3
Lewis 3
Louis 3
Mark 3
Philip 3
Benjaman 2
Edmond 2
Edmund 2
Frederic 2
Fredk. 2
Nathaniel 2
Percy 2
Phillip 2
Sam 2

FAQ

Cork surname: questions and answers

How common was the Cork surname in 1881?

In 1881, 2,249 people were recorded with the Cork surname. That placed it at #1,980 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Cork surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 2,169 in 2016. That gives Cork a modern rank of #2,982.

What does the Cork surname mean?

An English occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of cork, or a person from Cork, Ireland.

What does the Cork map show?

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