1881 census county

Caithness surnames in the 1881 census

This page ranks surnames recorded in Caithness in 1881. The total column counts people with each surname in the county. Frequency shows the local share of the population. Index compares that share with the wider census.

County summary

729 surnames are listed for Caithness, covering 33,300 people in the county records.

The leading surname here is Sutherland, with 3,032 people recorded in 1881.

Most common surnames in Caithness

Total favours larger counties and larger families. Frequency and index are better clues for where a surname stood out locally. Values above 1.00x mean the surname was more concentrated here than in the wider 1881 census.

#	Surname	Total	Frequency	Index
1	Sutherland	3,032	7.58%	150.45x
2	Gunn	1,279	3.20%	130.59x
3	Miller	1,200	3.00%	16.77x
4	Mackay	1,189	2.97%	82.19x
5	Bain	937	2.34%	94.41x
6	Campbell	918	2.30%	13.56x
7	Manson	876	2.19%	187.29x
8	Swanson	840	2.10%	286.80x
9	Henderson	794	1.99%	18.26x
10	Cormack	702	1.76%	232.16x
11	Bremner	638	1.60%	185.65x
12	Ross	542	1.36%	12.40x
13	Mowat	536	1.34%	195.29x
14	Munro	498	1.25%	27.89x
15	Dunnet	494	1.24%	523.92x
16	Bruce	468	1.17%	24.98x
17	Calder	409	1.02%	73.12x
18	Murray	351	0.880%	7.08x
19	Robertson	348	0.870%	5.19x
20	Grant	338	0.850%	8.52x
21	Budge	317	0.790%	155.44x
22	Banks	312	0.780%	15.21x
23	Forbes	305	0.760%	22.76x
24	Taylor	286	0.720%	1.12x
25	Steven	283	0.710%	93.39x
26	Smith	279	0.700%	0.49x
27	Doull	256	0.640%	481.66x
28	Reid	254	0.640%	6.05x
29	Waters	246	0.620%	15.31x
30	Shearer	232	0.580%	45.20x
31	Coghill	228	0.570%	287.88x
32	Macdonald	225	0.560%	14.18x
33	Williamson	218	0.550%	6.08x
34	Simpson	213	0.530%	3.04x
35	Malcolm	212	0.530%	40.31x
36	Davidson	201	0.500%	5.98x
37	Wares	199	0.500%	468.57x
38	Rosie	197	0.490%	306.04x
39	Tait	195	0.490%	16.56x
40	Nicolson	190	0.480%	41.12x
41	Geddes	185	0.460%	38.58x
42	Morrison	184	0.460%	5.85x
43	Matheson	183	0.460%	33.46x
44	Farquhar	180	0.450%	57.84x
45	Fraser	176	0.440%	4.94x
46	Begg	173	0.430%	71.09x
47	Clyne	171	0.430%	316.14x
48	Angus	169	0.420%	29.53x
49	Harper	167	0.420%	6.52x
50	Macleod	163	0.410%	28.86x
51	Thomson	163	0.410%	3.05x
52	Mackenzie	162	0.410%	14.47x
53	Alexander	159	0.400%	7.51x
54	Keith	159	0.400%	37.09x
55	Anderson	152	0.380%	1.92x
56	Stewart	149	0.370%	2.38x
57	Innes	148	0.370%	23.90x
58	Baikie	146	0.370%	263.40x
59	Dunbar	143	0.360%	31.12x
60	Oag	141	0.350%	514.97x
61	Young	139	0.350%	1.62x
62	Leith	130	0.330%	62.76x
63	Weir	127	0.320%	12.21x
64	Cameron	122	0.310%	3.92x
65	Finlayson	120	0.300%	26.04x
66	Brims	116	0.290%	438.73x
67	Jack	111	0.280%	13.06x
68	Allan	108	0.270%	4.30x
69	More	106	0.270%	34.08x
70	Green	105	0.260%	0.93x
71	Paterson	103	0.260%	3.78x
72	Sandison	103	0.260%	102.42x
73	Meiklejohn	102	0.260%	113.14x
74	Stephen	99	0.250%	14.12x
75	Dunnett	96	0.240%	78.99x
76	Elder	91	0.230%	21.54x
77	Leitch	91	0.230%	23.85x
78	Gray	89	0.220%	1.56x
79	Clark	83	0.210%	0.69x
80	Ryrie	83	0.210%	357.14x
81	Couper	82	0.210%	45.75x
82	Oman	81	0.200%	169.88x
83	Gordon	80	0.200%	3.17x
84	Groat	78	0.200%	168.79x
85	Kennedy	77	0.190%	3.19x
86	Donaldson	75	0.190%	6.57x
87	Falconer	72	0.180%	15.09x
88	Gow	72	0.180%	22.78x
89	Lyall	72	0.180%	26.40x
90	Hamilton	71	0.180%	2.37x
91	Adamson	70	0.180%	6.62x
92	Flett	70	0.180%	40.44x
93	Horne	70	0.180%	8.04x
94	Wallace	70	0.180%	2.56x
95	Polson	68	0.170%	73.26x
96	Laird	67	0.170%	14.92x
97	Barnetson	65	0.160%	377.25x
98	Levack	61	0.150%	256.63x
99	Mill	59	0.150%	24.46x
100	Georgeson	57	0.140%	71.37x