1881 census county

Shetland surnames in the 1881 census

This page ranks surnames recorded in Shetland 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

531 surnames are listed for Shetland, covering 27,205 people in the county records.

The leading surname here is Smith, with 1,251 people recorded in 1881.

Most common surnames in Shetland

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	Smith	1,251	4.19%	2.97x
2	Williamson	1,219	4.09%	45.58x
3	Robertson	1,042	3.49%	20.84x
4	Anderson	951	3.19%	16.14x
5	Johnson	897	3.01%	8.95x
6	Jamieson	872	2.92%	104.95x
7	Irvine	785	2.63%	119.42x
8	Nicolson	547	1.83%	158.68x
9	Tait	528	1.77%	60.11x
10	Laurenson	512	1.72%	699.26x
11	Manson	498	1.67%	142.74x
12	Leask	479	1.61%	390.57x
13	Henderson	472	1.58%	14.55x
14	Thomson	425	1.42%	10.66x
15	Sutherland	414	1.39%	27.54x
16	Mouat	413	1.38%	794.23x
17	Fraser	407	1.36%	15.32x
18	Hunter	390	1.31%	12.73x
19	Johnston	382	1.28%	15.87x
20	Tulloch	373	1.25%	188.42x
21	Hughson	332	1.11%	608.17x
22	Inkster	316	1.06%	613.47x
23	Halcrow	313	1.05%	641.26x
24	Jameson	306	1.03%	92.68x
25	Peterson	300	1.01%	197.72x
26	Henry	283	0.950%	37.52x
27	Goudie	279	0.940%	295.39x
28	Georgeson	270	0.900%	453.17x
29	Morrison	245	0.820%	10.45x
30	Gray	228	0.760%	5.35x
31	Sandison	214	0.720%	285.26x
32	Abernethy	213	0.710%	308.96x
33	Leslie	211	0.710%	42.72x
34	Brown	209	0.700%	1.06x
35	Moar	203	0.680%	434.50x
36	Clark	188	0.630%	2.10x
37	Arthur	178	0.600%	27.38x
38	Bruce	175	0.590%	12.52x
39	Blance	166	0.560%	771.38x
40	Coutts	159	0.530%	52.83x
41	Christie	157	0.530%	16.23x
42	Gifford	154	0.520%	59.36x
43	Pottinger	153	0.510%	195.88x
44	Spence	150	0.500%	15.20x
45	Goodlad	138	0.460%	273.21x
46	Gilbertson	137	0.460%	156.98x
47	Scott	137	0.460%	1.81x
48	Thompson	137	0.460%	1.53x
49	Moncrieff	135	0.450%	179.71x
50	Ridland	134	0.450%	805.29x
51	Cheyne	133	0.450%	134.03x
52	Thomason	128	0.430%	73.50x
53	Twatt	126	0.420%	731.28x
54	Linklater	123	0.410%	175.87x
55	Hay	122	0.410%	11.15x
56	Harper	121	0.410%	6.33x
57	Davidson	120	0.400%	4.78x
58	Murray	119	0.400%	3.22x
59	Malcolmson	118	0.400%	429.09x
60	Ratter	111	0.370%	738.03x
61	Reid	106	0.360%	3.38x
62	Wilson	106	0.360%	0.77x
63	Isbister	105	0.350%	262.83x
64	White	103	0.350%	1.07x
65	Eunson	94	0.320%	285.11x
66	Hawick	91	0.310%	761.51x
67	Nicholson	91	0.310%	4.29x
68	Stewart	90	0.300%	1.93x
69	Gear	87	0.290%	78.11x
70	Nisbet	87	0.290%	27.62x
71	Scollay	86	0.290%	556.99x
72	Garrick	84	0.280%	185.72x
73	Leisk	83	0.280%	470.79x
74	Bain	81	0.270%	10.94x
75	Mann	79	0.260%	5.03x
76	Stout	79	0.260%	55.26x
77	Harrison	78	0.260%	1.18x
78	Wishart	78	0.260%	33.37x
79	Petrie	77	0.260%	21.72x
80	Aitken	76	0.250%	9.71x
81	Dalziel	76	0.250%	57.62x
82	Moffat	75	0.250%	13.88x
83	Burgess	74	0.250%	3.57x
84	Pole	72	0.240%	77.80x
85	Walterson	72	0.240%	812.64x
86	Pearson	71	0.240%	2.05x
87	Ramsay	71	0.240%	9.24x
88	Tullock	71	0.240%	183.23x
89	Gaudie	69	0.230%	487.63x
90	Shewan	69	0.230%	181.29x
91	Young	69	0.230%	1.08x
92	Garriock	67	0.220%	384.39x
93	Simpson	67	0.220%	1.28x
94	Bolt	66	0.220%	30.60x
95	Flaws	66	0.220%	391.92x
96	Arcus	65	0.220%	665.98x
97	Cooper	62	0.210%	0.85x
98	Laing	57	0.190%	9.51x
99	Charleson	55	0.180%	257.97x
100	Slater	52	0.170%	2.88x