NameCensus.

UK surname

Godfree

In the 1881 census there were 223 people recorded with the Godfree surname, ranking it #11,998 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 187, ranked #20,488, down from #11,998 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, St Margaret Westminster and Brighton. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Brighton and Hove, East Hampshire and Meadows and Southside.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Godfree is 258 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has fallen by 16.1%.

1881 census count

223

Ranked #11,998

Modern count

187

2016, ranked #20,488

Peak year

1911

258 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Godfree had 223 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #11,998 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 187 in 2016, ranked #20,488.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 258 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Ageing Communities.

Godfree surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Godfree surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Godfree 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 177 #11,441
1861 historical 152 #15,126
1881 historical 223 #11,998
1891 historical 242 #13,048
1901 historical 227 #13,970
1911 historical 258 #12,614
1997 modern 233 #15,975
1998 modern 224 #16,888
1999 modern 218 #17,258
2000 modern 208 #17,772
2001 modern 206 #17,624
2002 modern 214 #17,545
2003 modern 208 #17,685
2004 modern 209 #17,706
2005 modern 209 #17,629
2006 modern 208 #17,835
2007 modern 211 #17,856
2008 modern 211 #17,997
2009 modern 207 #18,600
2010 modern 214 #18,601
2011 modern 213 #18,502
2012 modern 203 #19,025
2013 modern 190 #20,201
2014 modern 193 #20,159
2015 modern 190 #20,272
2016 modern 187 #20,488

Geography

Back to top

Where Godfrees are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, St Margaret Westminster, Brighton and Chelsea. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Brighton and Hove, East Hampshire, Meadows and Southside, Leeds and Waverley. 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 London parishes London 1
2 St Margaret Westminster London (West Districts)
3 London parishes London 3
4 Brighton Sussex
5 Chelsea London (West Districts)

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Brighton and Hove 017 Brighton and Hove
2 East Hampshire 009 East Hampshire
3 Meadows and Southside City of Edinburgh
4 Leeds 077 Leeds
5 Waverley 017 Waverley

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Godfree

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Godfree

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

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Ageing Communities

Nationally, the Godfree surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Ageing Communities, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Godfree household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many residents are of normal retirement age or above and live in communal establishments, and there are few dependent children. The dominant property type is a mix of retirement flats and detached houses. Those in work are likely to be employed in managerial and professional occupations, and many residents are educated to degree level. Levels of owner occupation are high, but the private rental sector is also present. Rural locations predominate.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Established Homeowners with Children

Within London, Godfree is most associated with areas classed as Established Homeowners with Children, 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 predominantly British-born residents are typically married/in civil partnerships and own the properties in which they are raising their children. Parents are typically over 45, and many other residents are beyond normal retirement age. Detached and semi-detached houses predominate and multiple car ownership is common.

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

Godfree is most concentrated in decile 3 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.

3
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Godfree falls in decile 9 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.

9
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Godfree is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 60-70 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

9
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Godfree, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

1881 census detail

Back to top

Godfree families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Godfree 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. Middlesex leads with 76 Godfrees recorded in 1881 and an index of 3.54x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 76 3.54x
Sussex 40 11.06x
Devon 29 6.49x
Kent 19 2.59x
Surrey 9 0.86x
Gloucestershire 8 1.90x
Warwickshire 7 1.29x
Berkshire 5 3.10x
Somerset 5 1.45x
Yorkshire 4 0.19x
Cambridgeshire 3 2.21x
Hertfordshire 3 2.03x
Oxfordshire 3 2.26x
Hampshire 2 0.45x
Monmouthshire 2 1.29x
Buckinghamshire 1 0.77x
Cumberland 1 0.54x
Dorset 1 0.71x
Leicestershire 1 0.42x
Lincolnshire 1 0.29x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Brighton in Sussex leads with 30 Godfrees recorded in 1881 and an index of 41.10x.

Place Total Index
Brighton 30 41.10x
Plymouth St Andrew 15 43.59x
Chelsea London 13 20.10x
Clerkenwell London 11 21.71x
Woolwich 10 36.97x
Dorsington 8 11428.57x
Fulham London 8 25.71x
Hornsey 8 29.48x
Birmingham 7 3.88x
Dover St James 7 218.07x
Hendon 6 77.72x
Preston 6 94.94x
Reading St Mary 5 38.76x
Wellington 5 106.84x
Bethnal Green London 4 4.29x
Eastbourne 4 24.02x
Exeter Heavitree 4 120.12x
Hackney London 4 3.32x
Islington London 4 1.92x
Kensington London 4 3.35x
Cheshunt 3 58.03x
East Stonehouse 3 34.09x
Naburn 3 714.29x
Newington 3 3.78x
St Pancras London 3 1.74x
Stoke Damerel 3 9.60x
Wisbech St Peter 3 43.99x
Camberwell 2 1.46x
Hampstead London 2 5.98x
Honiton 2 80.97x
Penge 2 14.59x
Shoreditch London 2 2.15x
St Luke London 2 5.81x
St Mellons 2 454.55x
Stoke 2 110.50x
Aldershot 1 6.78x
Ascott Under Wychwood 1 344.83x
Asthall 1 357.14x
Aylesbury 1 17.39x
Battersea 1 1.27x
Catherington 1 103.09x
Fifield 1 555.56x
Greenwich 1 2.93x
Lambeth 1 0.53x
Leicester St Mary 1 5.20x
Lewisham 1 2.56x
Norwood 1 20.37x
Paddington London 1 1.27x
Spalding 1 14.68x
Spitalfields London 1 6.20x
St Martin In Fields 1 7.78x
Thorner 1 144.93x
Underskiddaw 1 256.41x
Westminster St Margaret 1 9.66x
Wyke Regis 1 49.51x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Elizabeth 11
Mary 9
Ellen 7
Annie 6
Sarah 6
Jane 5
Charlotte 4
Emily 4
Jessie 4
Alice 3
Caroline 3
Emma 3
Laura 3
Ada 2
Ann 2
Bessie 2
Dinah 2
Louisa 2
Augusta 1
Easlin 1
Edith 1
Elain 1
Eleanor 1
Eliza 1
Elizbeth. 1
Elizth. 1
Eva 1
Fanny 1
Flora 1
Florence 1
Harriet 1
Harriett 1
Helena 1
Henrietta 1
Jamima 1
Joan 1
Julia 1
Kate 1
Katharine 1
Lucy 1
Margret 1
Maria 1
Martha 1
Maryan 1
Matilda 1
Mercy 1
Minnie 1
Phoebe 1
Rebecca 1
Rosa 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 12
William 10
James 9
George 7
Henry 6
Thomas 6
Alfred 5
Charles 4
Joseph 4
Robert 4
Edward 3
Frederick 3
Albert 2
Benjamin 2
Ernest 2
Herbert 2
Percy 2
Samuel 2
Cornelius 1
Dick 1
Edwin 1
F. 1
Frank 1
Fredk. 1
Fredrick 1
G. 1
Harold 1
Horace 1
Jno.W. 1
Ralph 1
Reginald 1
Robt.T. 1
Walter 1

FAQ

Godfree surname: questions and answers

How common was the Godfree surname in 1881?

In 1881, 223 people were recorded with the Godfree surname. That placed it at #11,998 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Godfree surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 187 in 2016. That gives Godfree a modern rank of #20,488.

What does the Godfree map show?

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