NameCensus.

UK surname

Fenny

In the 1881 census there were 237 people recorded with the Fenny surname, ranking it #11,509 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 180, ranked #21,022, down from #11,509 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Grindon, Birmingham Town: Birmingham and Liverpool. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham and Hartlepool.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Fenny is 319 in 1891. Compared with 1881, the name has fallen by 24.1%.

1881 census count

237

Ranked #11,509

Modern count

180

2016, ranked #21,022

Peak year

1891

319 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Fenny had 237 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #11,509 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 180 in 2016, ranked #21,022.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 319 in 1891.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Fenny surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Fenny surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Fenny 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 164 #12,116
1861 historical 188 #12,628
1881 historical 237 #11,509
1891 historical 319 #10,563
1901 historical 250 #13,136
1911 historical 214 #14,333
1997 modern 169 #19,578
1998 modern 169 #20,104
1999 modern 163 #20,698
2000 modern 162 #20,735
2001 modern 165 #20,199
2002 modern 172 #20,108
2003 modern 162 #20,624
2004 modern 162 #20,756
2005 modern 151 #21,667
2006 modern 156 #21,399
2007 modern 153 #21,912
2008 modern 161 #21,431
2009 modern 169 #21,190
2010 modern 176 #21,101
2011 modern 183 #20,425
2012 modern 177 #20,836
2013 modern 176 #21,237
2014 modern 178 #21,259
2015 modern 178 #21,149
2016 modern 180 #21,022

Geography

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Where Fennys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Grindon, Birmingham Town: Birmingham, Liverpool, Stockton-on-Tees (Stockton-on-Tees), Stainton (Thornaby ), Norton and Birmingham Town: Aston. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Hartlepool and Hambleton. 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 Grindon Durham
2 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire
3 Liverpool Lancashire
4 Stockton-on-Tees (Stockton-on-Tees), Stainton (Thornaby ), Norton Durham
5 Birmingham Town: Aston Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Stockton-on-Tees 012 Stockton-on-Tees
2 Stockton-on-Tees 006 Stockton-on-Tees
3 County Durham 011 County Durham
4 Hartlepool 001 Hartlepool
5 Hambleton 004 Hambleton

Forenames

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First names often paired with Fenny

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Fenny

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

Small Town Suburbia

Nationally, the Fenny surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Small Town Suburbia, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Fenny 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 is predominantly comprised of married couples with no resident dependent children, living in areas characterised neither by under-occupancy nor overcrowding throughout the UK in or adjacent to small towns. White ethnic groups and affiliation with Christianity predominates. Housing tends to be predominantly semi-detached or detached and workers are employed principally in managerial and professional occupations, with semi-skilled occupations also in evidence. These areas of the Supergroup are of higher population density.

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

Social Rented Sector Families with Children

Group

Social Rented Sector Pockets

Within London, Fenny is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Pockets, part of Social Rented Sector Families with Children. 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

Found in pockets across London, residents are less likely to live in private sector rentals and fewer adults are students. Fewer individuals work in transport and communications occupations relative to the Supergroup average. More individuals identify as Black and were born in Africa.

Wider London pattern

Residents of these neighbourhoods include sizable numbers identifying with ethnicities originating outside Europe, particularly in Africa or Bangladesh. The proportion of residents identifying as White, Indian or Pakistani is well below the London average. Neighbourhood age profiles are skewed towards younger adults, and above average numbers of families have children. Rates of use of English at home are below average. Marriage rates are low, and levels of separation or divorce are above average. Housing is predominantly in flats, and renting in the social rented sector the norm - few residents are owner occupiers. Housing is often overcrowded, and neighbourhoods are amongst the most densely populated in London. Disability rates are above average, although levels of unpaid care provision are about average. Employment is in caring, leisure, other service occupations, sales and customer service, or process, plant, and machine operation. Part time working and full-time student study are common. Levels of unemployment are slightly above average. Most residents have only Level 1 or 2 educational qualifications or have completed apprenticeships.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Fenny 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

Fenny falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

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

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Fenny families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Fenny 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. Durham leads with 94 Fennys recorded in 1881 and an index of 13.96x.

County Total Index
Durham 94 13.96x
Lancashire 62 2.31x
Staffordshire 14 1.83x
Warwickshire 11 1.93x
Yorkshire 10 0.45x
Middlesex 9 0.40x
Essex 6 1.34x
Surrey 6 0.54x
Cheshire 5 1.00x
Kent 5 0.65x
Peeblesshire 5 46.99x
Midlothian 2 0.66x
Derbyshire 1 0.28x
Leicestershire 1 0.40x
Shropshire 1 0.51x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Stockton On Tees in Durham leads with 64 Fennys recorded in 1881 and an index of 197.23x.

Place Total Index
Stockton On Tees 64 197.23x
Sutton 16 177.58x
Handsworth 10 53.11x
Birmingham 8 4.21x
Durham St Nicholas 8 484.85x
Eccleston In Prescot 7 51.93x
Windle 7 46.33x
Framwellgate 6 150.38x
Pendleton In Salford 6 18.76x
Stokesley 6 428.57x
Walthamstow 6 37.31x
Wigan 6 15.99x
Peebles 5 158.73x
Sutton In Macclesfield 5 96.53x
Audley 4 52.91x
Deptford St Paul 4 6.72x
Newington 4 4.79x
Preston 4 5.57x
Rainford 4 137.93x
Tudhoe 4 67.91x
St Pancras London 3 1.65x
Trimdon 3 126.05x
Aston 2 1.27x
Atherton 2 20.47x
Darlington 2 7.70x
Durham Magdalen Place 2 10000.00x
Egglescliffe 2 392.16x
Great Bolton 2 5.62x
Hackney London 2 1.58x
Kirkleatham 2 66.01x
Liverpool 2 1.23x
Newton 2 9.66x
Barrow In Furness 1 2.74x
Beighton 1 62.50x
Budbrooke 1 172.41x
Chatham 1 4.71x
Clerkenwell London 1 1.87x
Ealing 1 4.95x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 1 0.82x
Gorton 1 3.96x
Great Ayton 1 72.99x
Halifax 1 3.04x
Harton 1 37.59x
Heighington 1 204.08x
Inveresk 1 12.18x
Lambeth 1 0.51x
Limehouse London 1 4.03x
Narborough 1 144.93x
Paddington London 1 1.20x
Pelton 1 31.25x
Pennington In Leigh 1 19.42x
Shifnal 1 18.83x
West Derby 1 1.27x
Wimbledon 1 8.08x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 14
Elizabeth 9
Margaret 8
Jane 7
Hannah 6
Alice 4
Caroline 4
Emily 4
Emma 4
Isabella 4
Sarah 4
Ann 3
Annie 3
Margret 3
Catherine 2
Edith 2
Frances 2
Harriet 2
Jemima 2
Lucy 2
Martha 2
Adeline 1
Anne 1
Eliza 1
Elizth.Ann 1
Ellen 1
Fanny 1
Florence 1
Kate 1
Laura 1
Louisa 1
Margt. 1
Maria 1
Nance 1
Phillipa 1
Phoeby 1
Rachel 1
Ruth 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
Thomas 25
John 24
William 13
James 12
Samuel 6
Robert 5
Alfred 3
Charles 3
Henry 3
Arthur 2
Edward 2
Frederick 2
Joseph 2
Aaron 1
Albert 1
Caleb 1
Collin 1
Francis 1
Fredk. 1
Harry 1
Herbert 1
Josh. 1
Mathew 1
Noah 1
Peter 1
Rubert 1
Saml. 1

FAQ

Fenny surname: questions and answers

How common was the Fenny surname in 1881?

In 1881, 237 people were recorded with the Fenny surname. That placed it at #11,509 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Fenny surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 180 in 2016. That gives Fenny a modern rank of #21,022.

What does the Fenny map show?

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