NameCensus.

UK surname

Gretton

In the 1881 census there were 707 people recorded with the Gretton surname, ranking it #5,139 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 964, ranked #5,964, down from #5,139 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Burton-on-Trent, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard and St Werburgh. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Shropshire, Hartlepool and North West Leicestershire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Gretton is 1,079 in 2002. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 36.4%.

1881 census count

707

Ranked #5,139

Modern count

964

2016, ranked #5,964

Peak year

2002

1,079 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Gretton had 707 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #5,139 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 964 in 2016, ranked #5,964.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 1,045 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Gretton surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Gretton surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Gretton 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 523 #4,797
1861 historical 443 #5,835
1881 historical 707 #5,139
1891 historical 799 #5,033
1901 historical 927 #5,028
1911 historical 1,045 #4,395
1997 modern 1,019 #5,407
1998 modern 1,044 #5,470
1999 modern 1,059 #5,445
2000 modern 1,069 #5,381
2001 modern 1,037 #5,422
2002 modern 1,079 #5,358
2003 modern 1,050 #5,377
2004 modern 1,038 #5,440
2005 modern 1,012 #5,496
2006 modern 993 #5,594
2007 modern 971 #5,743
2008 modern 958 #5,839
2009 modern 971 #5,896
2010 modern 1,003 #5,869
2011 modern 995 #5,848
2012 modern 966 #5,895
2013 modern 958 #6,031
2014 modern 970 #6,015
2015 modern 973 #5,941
2016 modern 964 #5,964

Geography

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Where Grettons are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Burton-on-Trent, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, St Werburgh, Colwich (Colwich), Stowe, Colton and Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Shropshire, Hartlepool, North West Leicestershire, Ashfield and Gedling. 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 Burton-on-Trent Staffordshire
2 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
3 St Werburgh Derbyshire
4 Colwich (Colwich), Stowe, Colton Staffordshire
5 Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars Leicestershire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Shropshire 031 Shropshire
2 Hartlepool 003 Hartlepool
3 North West Leicestershire 013 North West Leicestershire
4 Ashfield 015 Ashfield
5 Gedling 005 Gedling

Forenames

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First names often paired with Gretton

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Gretton

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

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Gretton surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Gretton 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 comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Gretton 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

Gretton 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

Gretton falls in decile 8 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.

8
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Gretton families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Gretton 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. Staffordshire leads with 165 Grettons recorded in 1881 and an index of 7.08x.

County Total Index
Staffordshire 165 7.08x
Nottinghamshire 129 13.86x
Derbyshire 59 5.46x
Middlesex 58 0.84x
Warwickshire 44 2.53x
Yorkshire 44 0.64x
Leicestershire 37 4.83x
Shropshire 26 4.36x
Lancashire 23 0.28x
Cheshire 17 1.12x
Worcestershire 14 1.55x
Herefordshire 13 4.59x
Essex 10 0.73x
Kent 10 0.42x
Surrey 10 0.30x
Monmouthshire 9 1.80x
Gloucestershire 8 0.59x
Sussex 7 0.60x
Midlothian 6 0.65x
Roxburghshire 4 3.20x
Northamptonshire 3 0.46x
Brecknockshire 2 1.45x
Channel Islands 2 0.98x
Lincolnshire 2 0.18x
Dorset 1 0.22x
Oxfordshire 1 0.23x
Radnorshire 1 1.79x
Royal Navy 1 1.22x
Rutland 1 1.97x
Wiltshire 1 0.16x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Church Gresley in Derbyshire leads with 30 Grettons recorded in 1881 and an index of 174.42x.

Place Total Index
Church Gresley 30 174.42x
Burton Upon Trent 26 47.67x
Wednesbury 21 36.05x
Arnold 20 147.17x
Basford 20 46.61x
Aston 19 3.96x
Nottingham St Mary 18 7.48x
Poplar London 14 10.74x
Ibstock 13 233.39x
Radford 13 27.49x
Stoke Upon Trent 13 5.26x
Birmingham 12 2.07x
Burton Extra 12 89.75x
Stowe 12 1379.31x
Derby St Peter 11 31.94x
Grendon 11 738.26x
Hereford All Sts 11 84.81x
Langar 11 1100.00x
Thorpe Salvin 11 1279.07x
Bobbington 10 1041.67x
Mile End Old Town London 10 6.80x
Norton Canes 10 117.65x
Carlton 9 84.75x
Claverley 9 223.33x
Newark Upon Trent 9 26.90x
Croydon 8 4.28x
Islington London 8 1.20x
Openshaw 8 20.84x
West Ham 8 2.66x
Branstone 7 299.15x
Cotgrave 7 360.82x
Hagley 7 239.73x
Loughborough 7 20.14x
Macclesfield 7 10.33x
Rawmarsh 7 28.95x
Rotherfield 7 68.29x
Blithfield 6 845.07x
Clowne 6 139.53x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 6 1.61x
Gate Fulford 6 37.55x
Holy Trinity 6 3.65x
Penkridge 6 99.83x
Stafford St Mary 6 18.18x
Alveley 5 210.97x
Beckenham 5 16.23x
Bedwellty 5 5.67x
Bradford 5 13.03x
Derby St Alkmund 5 15.43x
Newtown Linford 5 438.60x
Sedgley 5 5.77x
Walsall Foreign 5 4.15x
Broom 4 1333.33x
Burslem 4 5.99x
Cheltenham 4 3.83x
Deuxhill 4 3636.36x
Ecclesall Bierlow 4 2.87x
Hoole 4 69.44x
Hopton Coton 4 121.21x
Kensington London 4 1.04x
Llanvetherine 4 769.23x
Melrose 4 36.97x
Rusholme 4 18.30x
St George In East London 4 6.16x
St Pancras London 4 0.72x
Astley Abbotts 3 204.08x
Bingham 3 75.76x
Gayton 3 535.71x
Hackney London 3 0.77x
Kegworth 3 58.94x
Rainow 3 98.68x
Rowley Regis 3 4.62x
Shoreditch London 3 1.00x
St George Hanover Square 3 2.47x
Wellingborough 3 9.19x
Worcester St Peter 3 17.57x
York St Cuthbert 3 47.92x
York St Maurice 3 23.27x
Calverton 2 67.80x
Derby All Sts 2 22.15x
Greenwich 2 1.82x

Top female names

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

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 49
William 43
Thomas 38
Joseph 20
George 17
Henry 14
James 13
Samuel 13
Charles 8
Arthur 7
Richard 6
Albert 5
Alfred 5
Francis 4
Fred 4
Frederick 4
Harry 4
Walter 4
Wm. 4
Edward 3
Herbert 3
Isaac 3
Mark 3
Robert 3
Clifford 2
Edwin 2
Geo. 2
Matthew 2
Michael 2
Thos. 2
Chas.Wr. 1
Dan 1
Earnest 1
Edmund 1
Ernest 1
Frank 1
Fred. 1
Fredk. 1
Fredric 1
Fredrick 1
Geo.Slaney 1
Hamlet 1
Harrold 1
Hy. 1
Isaiah 1
Jaason 1
Landdale 1
Malcum 1
Noah 1
Sam 1

FAQ

Gretton surname: questions and answers

How common was the Gretton surname in 1881?

In 1881, 707 people were recorded with the Gretton surname. That placed it at #5,139 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Gretton surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 964 in 2016. That gives Gretton a modern rank of #5,964.

What does the Gretton map show?

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