NameCensus.

UK surname

Grimster

In the 1881 census there were 80 people recorded with the Grimster surname, ranking it #22,225 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 130, ranked #26,152, down from #22,225 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Chard. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Woking, Flintshire and Windsor and Maidenhead.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Grimster is 136 in 2003. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 62.5%.

1881 census count

80

Ranked #22,225

Modern count

130

2016, ranked #26,152

Peak year

2003

136 bearers

Map years

4

1911 to 2016

Key insights

  • Grimster had 80 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #22,225 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 130 in 2016, ranked #26,152.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 100 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Legacy Industrial and Coastal Communities.

Grimster surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Grimster surname density by area, 2016 modern.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Grimster 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 46 #24,985
1861 historical 49 #27,768
1881 historical 80 #22,225
1891 historical 92 #25,109
1901 historical 97 #23,227
1911 historical 100 #22,717
1997 modern 122 #23,917
1998 modern 123 #24,449
1999 modern 123 #24,643
2000 modern 129 #23,901
2001 modern 122 #24,366
2002 modern 135 #23,398
2003 modern 136 #23,045
2004 modern 132 #23,625
2005 modern 127 #24,178
2006 modern 130 #24,053
2007 modern 126 #24,860
2008 modern 128 #24,901
2009 modern 129 #25,314
2010 modern 130 #25,775
2011 modern 126 #26,060
2012 modern 126 #26,148
2013 modern 132 #25,789
2014 modern 127 #26,634
2015 modern 126 #26,654
2016 modern 130 #26,152

Geography

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Where Grimsters are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes, Chard and Bishops Castle. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Woking, Flintshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, East Cambridgeshire and South Somerset. 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 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 London parishes London 1
3 Chard Somerset
4 Bishops Castle Shropshire
5 London parishes London 3

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Woking 011 Woking
2 Flintshire 007 Flintshire
3 Windsor and Maidenhead 009 Windsor and Maidenhead
4 East Cambridgeshire 011 East Cambridgeshire
5 South Somerset 012 South Somerset

Forenames

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First names often paired with Grimster

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Grimster

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

Baseline UK

Group

Legacy Industrial and Coastal Communities

Nationally, the Grimster surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Legacy Industrial and Coastal Communities, within Baseline UK. This does not mean every Grimster household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Single-person households are common in these neighbourhoods, and these residents are typically divorced rather than never married. A high proportion of residents were born outside the UK in the EU. There are many young adults, some with young children, but relatively few residents are of normal retirement age or over. Although levels of identification with ethnic minorities are in line with the Supergroup average, individuals identifying with Mixed or Multiple ethnicities is more common than average. High long-term disability rates are observed, and unpaid care is more common than in the rest of the Group. The predominant housing types are terraced houses and flats, which are typically part of the social rented sector. This Group is commonly found in coastal areas and (present-day or former) industrial towns and cities.

Wider pattern

This Supergroup exemplifies the broad base to the UK’s social structure, encompassing as it does the average or modal levels of many neighbourhood characteristics, including all housing tenures, a range of levels of educational attainment and religious affiliations, and a variety of pre-retirement age structures. Yet, in combination, these mixes are each distinctive of the parts of the UK. Overall, terraced houses and flats are the most prevalent, as is employment in intermediate or low-skilled occupations. However, this Supergroup is also characterised by above average levels of unemployment and lower levels of use of English as the main language. Many neighbourhoods occur in south London and the UK’s other major urban centres.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Grimster 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

Grimster 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

Grimster 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 Grimster is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 50-60 mbit/s.

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

8
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

1881 census detail

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Grimster families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Grimster 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. Somerset leads with 40 Grimsters recorded in 1881 and an index of 34.44x.

County Total Index
Somerset 40 34.44x
Gloucestershire 8 5.65x
Lancashire 6 0.70x
Hertfordshire 5 10.05x
Shropshire 4 6.42x
Surrey 4 1.14x
Hampshire 3 2.03x
Channel Islands 2 9.35x
Devon 1 0.67x
Leicestershire 1 1.25x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Chard in Somerset leads with 15 Grimsters recorded in 1881 and an index of 1063.83x.

Place Total Index
Chard 15 1063.83x
Bristol St George 8 122.14x
Winsham 8 3809.52x
Frome 7 251.80x
Walton On Hill 6 129.31x
Ilminster 5 617.28x
Bishops Castle In 4 1111.11x
Great Hadham 4 1250.00x
Chertsey 3 132.16x
Crewkerne 3 243.90x
Southampton St Mary 3 32.26x
St Peter Port 2 50.51x
Combe St Nicholas 1 357.14x
Gaddesby 1 1666.67x
Hemel Hempstead 1 44.64x
Lambeth 1 1.59x
Plymouth St Andrew 1 8.64x
Taunton St Mary 1 46.95x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Elizabeth 4
Hannah 3
Martha 3
Mary 3
Annie 2
Eliza 2
Ellen 2
Emily 2
Emma 2
Jane 2
Margaret 2
Susan 2
Alice 1
Anna 1
Charlotte 1
Edith 1
Ethel 1
Evelina 1
Georgiana 1
Harriet 1
Ivy 1
Keiza 1
Lavina 1
Lydea 1
Nora 1
Sarah 1

Top male names

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

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Grimster households.

FAQ

Grimster surname: questions and answers

How common was the Grimster surname in 1881?

In 1881, 80 people were recorded with the Grimster surname. That placed it at #22,225 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Grimster surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 130 in 2016. That gives Grimster a modern rank of #26,152.

What does the Grimster map show?

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