NameCensus.

UK surname

Flather

In the 1881 census there were 238 people recorded with the Flather surname, ranking it #11,476 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 231, ranked #17,764, down from #11,476 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Silkstone, Bradford and Sheffield. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Bradford, Barnsley and Kirklees.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Flather is 281 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 2.9%.

1881 census count

238

Ranked #11,476

Modern count

231

2016, ranked #17,764

Peak year

1911

281 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Flather had 238 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #11,476 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 231 in 2016, ranked #17,764.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 281 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established Mature Families.

Flather surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Flather surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Flather 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 209 #10,066
1861 historical 267 #9,290
1881 historical 238 #11,476
1891 historical 278 #11,746
1901 historical 233 #13,740
1911 historical 281 #11,953
1997 modern 231 #16,049
1998 modern 239 #16,179
1999 modern 245 #16,012
2000 modern 248 #15,827
2001 modern 243 #15,791
2002 modern 236 #16,455
2003 modern 234 #16,343
2004 modern 237 #16,283
2005 modern 237 #16,244
2006 modern 239 #16,224
2007 modern 236 #16,617
2008 modern 244 #16,346
2009 modern 238 #17,002
2010 modern 232 #17,657
2011 modern 230 #17,578
2012 modern 234 #17,291
2013 modern 228 #17,864
2014 modern 233 #17,707
2015 modern 230 #17,795
2016 modern 231 #17,764

Geography

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Where Flathers are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Silkstone, Bradford, Sheffield and Halifax. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Bradford, Barnsley, Kirklees, Sheffield and Calderdale. 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 Silkstone Yorkshire, West Riding
2 Bradford Yorkshire, West Riding
3 Sheffield Yorkshire, West Riding
4 Halifax Yorkshire, West Riding

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Bradford 002 Bradford
2 Barnsley 017 Barnsley
3 Kirklees 005 Kirklees
4 Sheffield 004 Sheffield
5 Calderdale 025 Calderdale

Forenames

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First names often paired with Flather

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Flather

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

Established Mature Families

Nationally, the Flather surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established Mature Families, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Flather household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Married couples predominate, many with older dependent children. Detached housing is common. Homeownership rates are the highest within this Supergroup. The presence of some students suggests that households are towards the end of a child rearing phase. Many residents have degree level qualifications, and the occupational profile is heavily skewed towards managerial and professional occupations. Residential developments commonly occur on the periphery of major urban cities or conurbations.

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

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Flather is most associated with areas classed as Inner London Working Professionals, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. 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

These primarily Inner London neighbourhoods are more densely populated than the Supergroup average. Residents have a younger over-all age profile than the Supergroup as a whole, and are less likely to be owner occupiers. Full time employment is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup and multiple car ownership is uncommon. Chinese and non-EU-born European migrants are less in evidence than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Flather is most concentrated in decile 9 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.

9
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Flather falls in decile 10 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the less deprived end of the index.

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

10
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Flather families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Flather 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. Yorkshire leads with 200 Flathers recorded in 1881 and an index of 8.69x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 200 8.69x
Kent 7 0.88x
Surrey 7 0.62x
Lancashire 6 0.22x
Middlesex 6 0.26x
Nottinghamshire 6 1.92x
Hampshire 3 0.63x
Cambridgeshire 1 0.68x
Northumberland 1 0.29x
Sussex 1 0.26x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Elland Cum Greetland in Yorkshire leads with 22 Flathers recorded in 1881 and an index of 212.36x.

Place Total Index
Elland Cum Greetland 22 212.36x
Horton In Bradford 17 47.31x
Northowram 16 99.19x
Barnsley 12 50.57x
Bowling 11 48.27x
Halifax 11 32.57x
Nether Hallam 11 35.34x
Ecclesall Bierlow 10 21.37x
Manningham 9 31.76x
Sheffield 8 10.92x
Southowram 8 113.96x
Bexley 7 100.00x
Brightside Bierlow 7 15.51x
Camberwell 7 4.72x
Hipperholme Cum 7 69.24x
North Bierley 7 56.36x
Bradford Girlington 6 582.52x
Wortley In Bramley 6 32.93x
Attercliffe Cum Darnall 5 23.33x
Clayton 5 88.81x
Cleckheaton 3 35.42x
Lindley Cum Quarmby 3 51.72x
Nottingham St Mary 3 3.71x
Rawmarsh 3 36.90x
Shelf 3 136.36x
St George Bloomsbury 3 22.52x
St Mary Extra 3 78.33x
Thornton In Bradford 3 39.16x
Baildon 2 46.19x
Broughton In Salford 2 7.94x
North Meols 2 7.42x
Pudsey 2 16.26x
Radford 2 12.58x
Skircoat 2 22.05x
St Luke London 2 5.37x
Toxteth Park 2 2.14x
Basford 1 6.93x
Elswick 1 3.63x
Hastings St Leonards 1 17.39x
Holbeck 1 6.56x
St Pancras London 1 0.54x
Trumpington 1 133.33x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 23
Sarah 9
Elizabeth 7
Hannah 7
Jane 7
Emma 6
Emily 5
Martha 5
Clara 4
Alice 3
Ann 3
Lucy 3
Rose 3
Ruth 3
Annie 2
Betty 2
Eliz. 2
Eliza 2
Ellen 2
Harriet 2
Susannah 2
Betsy 1
Caroline 1
Constance 1
Cydelise 1
Drusilla 1
Edith 1
Effie 1
Fanny 1
Frances 1
Gertrude 1
Grace 1
Hanah 1
Helen 1
Helena 1
Janet 1
Jimmima 1
Katherine 1
Laura 1
Lavinia 1
Lillian 1
Lily 1
Louisa 1
Lousia 1
Manda 1
Margaret 1
Maria 1
Maud 1
Maude 1
Nancy 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 10
George 9
Thomas 7
William 7
Henry 5
James 5
David 4
Richard 4
Robert 4
Walter 4
Alfred 3
Arthur 3
Joseph 3
Abraham 2
Edwin 2
Ezra 2
Fred 2
Harry 2
Willie 2
Albert 1
Charles 1
Cornelius 1
Cyril 1
Enoch 1
Gerard 1
Jhon 1
Jonas 1
Moses 1
Oswald 1
Sam 1
Samuel 1
Shepley 1
Smith 1
Wilson 1
Wm. 1
Wm.H. 1

FAQ

Flather surname: questions and answers

How common was the Flather surname in 1881?

In 1881, 238 people were recorded with the Flather surname. That placed it at #11,476 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Flather surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 231 in 2016. That gives Flather a modern rank of #17,764.

What does the Flather map show?

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