NameCensus.

UK surname

Garden

A habitational surname denoting someone who lived near or by a garden or orchard.

In the 1881 census there were 1,258 people recorded with the Garden surname, ranking it #3,235 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 1,586, ranked #3,915, down from #3,235 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Keith, Edinburgh and Rathven. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Turriff, Kintore and Braeside, Mannofield, Broomhill and Seafield North.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Garden is 1,586 in 2016. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 26.1%.

1881 census count

1,258

Ranked #3,235

Modern count

1,586

2016, ranked #3,915

Peak year

2016

1,586 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Garden had 1,258 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #3,235 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 1,586 in 2016, ranked #3,915.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 1,545 in 1861.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Garden surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Garden surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Garden 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 1,034 #2,708
1861 historical 1,545 #1,839
1881 historical 1,258 #3,235
1891 historical 1,525 #2,896
1901 historical 1,344 #3,728
1911 historical 429 #8,815
1997 modern 1,471 #3,977
1998 modern 1,519 #4,000
1999 modern 1,548 #3,969
2000 modern 1,526 #4,006
2001 modern 1,467 #4,064
2002 modern 1,516 #4,033
2003 modern 1,480 #4,044
2004 modern 1,475 #4,059
2005 modern 1,492 #3,979
2006 modern 1,485 #3,994
2007 modern 1,495 #4,012
2008 modern 1,511 #4,001
2009 modern 1,550 #3,994
2010 modern 1,556 #4,068
2011 modern 1,536 #4,068
2012 modern 1,523 #4,023
2013 modern 1,550 #4,026
2014 modern 1,583 #3,974
2015 modern 1,579 #3,943
2016 modern 1,586 #3,915

Geography

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Where Gardens are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Keith, Edinburgh, Rathven, Bellie and Drainie. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Turriff, Kintore, Braeside, Mannofield, Broomhill and Seafield North, Peterhead Harbour and Dyce. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Keith Banff
2 Edinburgh Edinburgh
3 Rathven Banff
4 Bellie Elgin
5 Drainie Elgin

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Turriff Aberdeenshire
2 Kintore Aberdeenshire
3 Braeside, Mannofield, Broomhill and Seafield North Aberdeen City
4 Peterhead Harbour Aberdeenshire
5 Dyce Aberdeen City

Forenames

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First names often paired with Garden

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Garden

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

Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce

Group

Established but Challenged

Nationally, the Garden surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Garden household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many households in these neighbourhoods comprise separated or divorced single parents with dependent children. Residents are typically born in the UK, and these neighbourhoods have relatively few members of ethnic minorities. The prevalence of children, their parents and those at or above normal retirement age, suggests neighbourhood structures may be long-established. Levels of unpaid care are high, and long-term disability is more common than in the Supergroup as a whole. Use of the social rented sector is common, often in terraced houses. Levels of overcrowding are above the Supergroup average. Unemployment is high, while those in work are employed in elementary occupations such as caring, leisure and customer services. Many residents have low level qualifications. Neighbourhood concentrations of this Group are found in the South Wales Valleys, Belfast, Londonderry and the Central Lowlands of Scotland.

Wider pattern

Living in terraced or semi-detached houses, residents of these neighbourhoods typically lack high levels of education and work in elementary or routine service occupations. Unemployment is above average. Residents are predominantly born in the UK, and residents are also predominantly from ethnic minorities. Social (but not private sector) rented sector housing is common. This Supergroup is found throughout the UK’s conurbations and industrial regions but is also an integral part of smaller towns.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Garden is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. 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 located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Garden is most concentrated in decile 1 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the less healthy 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.

1
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

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

Meaning and origin of Garden

The surname Garden originated in England during the medieval period, likely derived from the Old English word "gærden," meaning an enclosed area or yard. This name was initially given to individuals who lived near or worked in a garden or cultivated lands.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Garden surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Gardener" or "Gardenarius." This suggests that the name was initially an occupational surname for those involved in gardening or tending gardens.

In the 13th century, the Garden surname began appearing in various records across England, such as the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which listed individuals with the spelling "Gardiner" in counties like Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

During the 14th century, the surname Garden and its variants became more widespread across England. Notable individuals from this period include John Garden, a merchant from London who lived around 1330, and William Gardyn, a landowner in Nottinghamshire mentioned in records from 1379.

By the 15th century, the Garden surname had spread to other parts of the British Isles, including Scotland and Ireland. One notable bearer of the name was Alexander Garden, a Scottish theologian and philosopher born in 1685 who served as the Principal of King's College, Aberdeen.

In the 16th century, the Garden surname continued to be prominent in England, with individuals such as Sir Thomas Garden (c. 1520-1587), an English politician and member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

The 17th century saw the emergence of several notable individuals with the Garden surname, including Alexander Garden (1590-1634), a Scottish minister and scholar who served as the Rector of the University of Aberdeen, and John Garden (1633-1693), a Scottish military officer and colonial administrator in North America.

As the Garden surname spread throughout the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, it gained prominence in various fields. Some notable bearers of the name during this period include Francis Garden (1765-1832), an English politician and member of Parliament, and Alexander Garden (1828-1899), a Scottish-Canadian businessman and politician who served as the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Throughout its history, the Garden surname has been associated with various place names across England, such as Gardiner's Green in Hertfordshire and Gardenham in Cambridgeshire, further reflecting its origins as a locational or occupational surname.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Garden families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Garden 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. Aberdeenshire leads with 446 Gardens recorded in 1881 and an index of 39.46x.

County Total Index
Aberdeenshire 446 39.46x
Banffshire 195 77.04x
Morayshire 124 65.40x
Middlesex 76 0.62x
Midlothian 50 3.06x
Lanarkshire 47 1.19x
Surrey 28 0.47x
Angus 27 2.39x
Kincardineshire 27 18.17x
Lancashire 24 0.17x
Essex 14 0.58x
Hampshire 14 0.56x
Northumberland 14 0.77x
Perthshire 14 2.56x
Durham 13 0.36x
Kent 12 0.29x
Yorkshire 11 0.09x
Staffordshire 10 0.24x
Clackmannanshire 8 7.94x
Northamptonshire 8 0.70x
Leicestershire 7 0.52x
West Lothian 7 3.81x
East Lothian 6 3.71x
Orkney 6 4.47x
Worcestershire 6 0.38x
Dumfriesshire 5 1.85x
Dunbartonshire 5 1.52x
Gloucestershire 5 0.21x
Nottinghamshire 4 0.24x
Warwickshire 4 0.13x
Berkshire 3 0.33x
Buckinghamshire 3 0.41x
Herefordshire 3 0.60x
Lincolnshire 3 0.15x
Ayrshire 2 0.22x
Bedfordshire 2 0.32x
Brecknockshire 2 0.82x
Devon 2 0.08x
Shropshire 2 0.19x
Somerset 2 0.10x
Carmarthenshire 1 0.19x
Cheshire 1 0.04x
Derbyshire 1 0.05x
Dorset 1 0.12x
Fife 1 0.14x
Inverness-shire 1 0.27x
Kinross-shire 1 3.24x
Renfrewshire 1 0.11x
Suffolk 1 0.07x
Sussex 1 0.05x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Aberdeen Old Machar in Aberdeenshire leads with 109 Gardens recorded in 1881 and an index of 46.19x.

Place Total Index
Aberdeen Old Machar 109 46.19x
Rathven 82 172.45x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 71 33.58x
Newhills 57 246.33x
Drainie 45 267.86x
Mortlach 33 266.99x
Chapel Of Garioch 31 385.57x
Bellie 29 338.39x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 27 4.11x
Elgin 21 56.94x
Auchterless 20 222.97x
Govan 20 2.05x
Keith 20 74.13x
Peterhead 17 28.45x
Fetteresso 15 64.41x
Hammersmith London 14 4.66x
Barony 12 1.20x
Berwick Upon Tweed 12 31.19x
Brechin 10 22.51x
Dundee 10 2.37x
Inverurie 10 78.25x
Insch 9 139.97x
Portsea 9 1.84x
Alford 8 130.08x
Alloa 8 16.37x
Bellie 8 597.01x
Botriphnie 8 273.04x
Fordyce 8 43.93x
Glasgow 8 1.14x
Tottenham 8 4.12x
Banff 7 31.85x
Bathgate 7 17.54x
Bethnal Green London 7 1.32x
Chertsey 7 18.22x
Dalton In Furness 7 12.52x
Drumoak 7 179.95x
Edinburgh Greenside 7 32.41x
Grange 7 94.47x
Gretton 7 200.57x
Hampstead London 7 3.68x
Kildrummy 7 253.62x
Kingswinford 7 4.68x
Kinneff Catterline 7 167.06x
New Deer 7 34.21x
St Pancras London 7 0.71x
Auchindoir Kearn 6 94.49x
Berwick North 6 53.00x
Chobham 6 57.14x
Dyke 6 115.61x
Evesham St Lawrence 6 70.84x
Hackney London 6 0.88x
Keig 6 185.19x
Kinellar 6 247.93x
Kirkwall St Ola 6 29.84x
Knockando 6 77.82x
Leicester St Margaret 6 1.82x
Madderty 6 272.73x
Shettleston 6 16.98x
St Fergus 6 93.75x
St Marylebone London 6 0.92x
Tarves 6 56.13x
Toxteth Park 6 1.22x
Bocking 5 34.51x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 5 2.22x
Crook Billy Row 5 10.76x
Ellon 5 32.18x
Lewisham 5 2.25x
Perth East Church 5 9.68x
Rothes 5 54.05x
Tullynessle Forbes 5 120.77x
West Ham 5 0.94x
Battersea 4 0.89x
Birmingham 4 0.39x
Crathie Braemar 4 59.17x
Deskford 4 110.50x
Forres 4 20.07x
King Edward 4 30.72x
Monymusk 4 82.64x
Row 4 9.43x
Tough 4 139.86x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 17
Elizabeth 7
Jane 6
Margaret 6
Ann 5
Emma 5
Annie 4
Catherine 4
Frances 4
Louisa 4
Martha 4
Sarah 4
Charlotte 3
Florence 3
Hannah 3
Alice 2
Amy 2
Edith 2
Eliza 2
Emily 2
Fanny 2
Fany 2
Helen 2
Isabella 2
Lucy 2
Rebecca 2
Bella 1
Caroline 1
Cicely 1
Clara 1
Eliz. 1
Ellen 1
Elsie 1
Esther 1
Ethel 1
Eugenie 1
F. 1
Fenetta 1
Harriet 1
Harriett 1
Hester 1
Isabela 1
Janet 1
Jenny 1
Jesse 1
Jessie 1
Laura 1
Lydia 1
Mabel 1
Winniford 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 16
William 16
James 10
Henry 8
George 7
Robert 7
Alfred 6
Arthur 6
Charles 6
Alexander 3
Francis 3
Samuel 3
Walter 3
Albert 2
Andrew 2
Frederick 2
Harry 2
Joseph 2
Richard 2
Thomas 2
A.M. 1
Adam 1
Alex.Morrison 1
Archibald 1
Benjamin 1
Chas. 1
Daniel 1
Edmund 1
Edward 1
Edwin 1
Ferdinand 1
Hugh 1
Johon 1
Matthew 1
Nathen 1
Nehemiah 1
Norman 1
Percy 1
Ralph 1
Rebulen 1
Shardley 1
Tholo. 1
Thos.E. 1

FAQ

Garden surname: questions and answers

How common was the Garden surname in 1881?

In 1881, 1,258 people were recorded with the Garden surname. That placed it at #3,235 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Garden surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 1,586 in 2016. That gives Garden a modern rank of #3,915.

What does the Garden surname mean?

A habitational surname denoting someone who lived near or by a garden or orchard.

What does the Garden map show?

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