NameCensus.

UK surname

Knox

A Scottish surname derived from a place name meaning "round hill" in Old English.

In the 1881 census there were 5,144 people recorded with the Knox surname, ranking it #867 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 8,226, ranked #798, up from #867 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Govan Combination, Gateshead and London parishes. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Northumberland, IZ22 and Gateshead.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Knox is 8,387 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 59.9%.

1881 census count

5,144

Ranked #867

Modern count

8,226

2016, ranked #798

Peak year

2010

8,387 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Knox had 5,144 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #867 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 8,226 in 2016, ranked #798.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 6,440 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Knox surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Knox surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Knox 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 3,477 #820
1861 historical 3,388 #838
1881 historical 5,144 #867
1891 historical 5,387 #869
1901 historical 6,440 #864
1911 historical 3,606 #1,449
1997 modern 7,821 #826
1998 modern 8,122 #824
1999 modern 8,151 #828
2000 modern 8,070 #830
2001 modern 7,847 #835
2002 modern 8,034 #837
2003 modern 7,801 #837
2004 modern 7,771 #837
2005 modern 7,798 #819
2006 modern 7,824 #814
2007 modern 7,931 #811
2008 modern 8,005 #810
2009 modern 8,199 #811
2010 modern 8,387 #807
2011 modern 8,242 #809
2012 modern 8,042 #815
2013 modern 8,220 #809
2014 modern 8,325 #804
2015 modern 8,241 #803
2016 modern 8,226 #798

Geography

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Where Knox' are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Govan Combination, Gateshead, London parishes, Edinburgh and Glasgow. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Northumberland, IZ22 and Gateshead. 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 Govan Combination Lanark
2 Gateshead Durham
3 London parishes London 3
4 Edinburgh Edinburgh
5 Glasgow Lanark

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Northumberland 005 Northumberland
2 Northumberland 006 Northumberland
3 IZ22 East Lothian
4 Northumberland 020 Northumberland
5 Gateshead 021 Gateshead

Forenames

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First names often paired with Knox

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Knox

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Knox, 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 Knox surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Knox 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, Knox 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

Knox 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

Knox falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

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

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Knox

The surname Knox has its origins in Scotland, with records dating back to the 12th century. The name is derived from the Old English word "cnoc," meaning a small hill or hillock. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or on a small hill.

One of the earliest documented instances of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which list landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. Among them is a Walter de Knocks, whose name is likely an early variant spelling of Knox.

In the 16th century, the Knox surname gained particular prominence with the Scottish Protestant reformer John Knox, who played a significant role in the Reformation in Scotland. Born in 1514, Knox is celebrated as the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Another notable figure bearing the Knox surname is Henry Knox, an American bookseller and military officer who served as the first United States Secretary of War from 1789 to 1794 under President George Washington. He was born in 1750 in Boston, Massachusetts.

In literature, the name Knox appears in the works of Sir Walter Scott, including his novel "The Abbot" published in 1820, where a character named Henry Warden of Wilton is referred to as the "Knight of Ardenvohr and Knockdunder."

The Knox surname has also been associated with place names, such as Knoxville, the third-largest city in Tennessee, which was named after Henry Knox, the Revolutionary War general, in 1791.

Other notable individuals with the Knox surname include Amanda Knox, an American woman who was initially convicted but later acquitted of the murder of her roommate in Italy in 2007, and Philander Chase Knox, an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of State from 1909 to 1913.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Knox families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Knox 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. Lanarkshire leads with 655 Knox' recorded in 1881 and an index of 4.04x.

County Total Index
Lanarkshire 655 4.04x
Durham 595 3.99x
Northumberland 549 7.36x
Lancashire 356 0.60x
Midlothian 284 4.23x
Aberdeenshire 267 5.75x
Ayrshire 267 7.11x
Middlesex 263 0.52x
Renfrewshire 257 6.61x
Yorkshire 137 0.28x
Fife 129 4.35x
Roxburghshire 116 12.77x
Surrey 103 0.42x
East Lothian 100 15.05x
Stirlingshire 83 4.49x
Dunbartonshire 73 5.42x
Angus 65 1.40x
Cumberland 60 1.39x
Berwickshire 57 9.39x
Clackmannanshire 56 13.52x
Kent 53 0.31x
Hampshire 52 0.51x
West Lothian 48 6.36x
Dumfriesshire 41 3.70x
Cheshire 36 0.33x
Devon 33 0.32x
Essex 31 0.31x
Staffordshire 31 0.18x
Glamorgan 27 0.31x
Perthshire 24 1.07x
Selkirkshire 21 4.63x
Argyllshire 17 1.22x
Kirkcudbrightshire 17 2.34x
Morayshire 16 2.05x
Warwickshire 15 0.12x
Gloucestershire 14 0.14x
Ross-shire 14 1.02x
Peeblesshire 12 5.09x
Pembrokeshire 11 0.69x
Isle of Man 10 1.07x
Banffshire 9 0.87x
Worcestershire 9 0.14x
Channel Islands 8 0.54x
Shropshire 8 0.18x
Somerset 8 0.10x
Cambridgeshire 7 0.22x
Cornwall 7 0.12x
Sussex 7 0.08x
Wigtownshire 7 1.05x
Berkshire 6 0.16x
Kincardineshire 6 0.98x
Rutland 6 1.63x
Buckinghamshire 5 0.16x
Derbyshire 5 0.06x
Oxfordshire 5 0.16x
Royal Navy 5 0.84x
Lincolnshire 4 0.05x
Caithness 3 0.44x
Inverness-shire 3 0.20x
Monmouthshire 3 0.08x
Northamptonshire 3 0.06x
Nottinghamshire 3 0.04x
Wiltshire 3 0.07x
Buteshire 2 0.66x
Denbighshire 2 0.11x
Suffolk 2 0.03x
Bedfordshire 1 0.04x
Caernarfonshire 1 0.05x
Cardiganshire 1 0.08x
Dorset 1 0.03x
Flintshire 1 0.07x
Hertfordshire 1 0.03x
Kinross-shire 1 0.79x
Nairnshire 1 0.65x
Sutherland 1 0.26x
Westmorland 1 0.09x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Barony in Lanarkshire leads with 185 Knox' recorded in 1881 and an index of 4.51x.

Place Total Index
Barony 185 4.51x
Govan 164 4.09x
Glasgow 110 3.82x
Abbey 81 13.66x
Wallsend 71 30.00x
Toxteth Park 69 3.42x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 64 2.37x
Bishopwearmouth 62 4.84x
Byker 51 13.83x
Gateshead 48 4.30x
Aberdeen Old Machar 41 4.23x
New Deer 39 46.38x
Paisley High Church 37 11.96x
Bethnal Green London 36 1.65x
Westoe 36 4.26x
Falkirk 35 8.08x
Renfrew 35 27.27x
Haddington 34 34.67x
Maryhill 34 10.71x
Hawick 33 16.23x
Everton 32 1.69x
Elswick 31 5.21x
Manchester 31 1.16x
South Leith 31 4.10x
Bothwell 30 6.82x
Kilbirnie 30 33.29x
Longbenton 30 9.49x
Tillicoultry 30 32.56x
Cowpen 29 16.88x
Hedworth Monkton Jarrow 29 4.49x
Kirkintilloch 28 15.29x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 27 3.11x
Stockton On Tees 26 3.62x
Lambeth 25 0.57x
Dundee 24 1.38x
Kilmarnock 24 5.37x
Middlesbrough 24 3.71x
Mile End Old Town London 24 2.25x
Monkwearmouth Shore 24 8.24x
Neilston 24 12.30x
Plymouth St Andrew 24 2.98x
West Ham 24 1.10x
Alnwick 23 17.93x
Coxlodge 23 40.54x
Framwellgate 23 26.02x
Rutherglen 22 9.25x
Berwick Upon Tweed 21 13.28x
Dalry 21 11.89x
New Monkland 21 4.38x
Riccarton Hurlford 21 31.90x
Birtley 20 32.85x
Dunbar 20 21.48x
Kilwinning 20 16.50x
Normanby In 20 15.05x
Seghill 20 54.67x
Shoreditch London 20 0.92x
St Marylebone London 20 0.75x
Tweedmouth 20 21.50x
Cambusnethan 19 5.27x
Chirton 19 11.25x
Dalkeith 19 14.34x
Dalmellington 19 17.22x
Langholm 19 23.86x
Melrose 19 24.19x
Tyrie 19 32.59x
West Calder 19 14.35x
Alloa 18 8.96x
Kirkdale 18 1.80x
Melrose 18 15.76x
Stoke Upon Trent 18 1.00x
Tanfield 18 10.15x
West Derby 18 1.03x
Beith 17 15.18x
Liverpool 17 0.47x
Newington 17 0.92x
Old Deer 17 19.32x
Peterhead 17 6.92x
Prudhoe Castle 17 117.16x
Salford 17 0.97x
Whitehaven 16 6.95x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 201
Elizabeth 105
Margaret 90
Jane 87
Sarah 59
Isabella 56
Ann 55
Annie 30
Catherine 30
Hannah 29
Ellen 28
Eliza 24
Alice 14
Martha 14
Dorothy 13
Emma 13
Eleanor 12
Agnes 11
Charlotte 11
Anne 10
Frances 10
Margt. 10
Clara 9
Edith 9
Emily 9
Maria 9
Ada 8
Esther 8
Harriet 8
Louisa 8
Susan 8
Elizth. 7
Ethel 7
Florence 7
Bridget 6
Harriett 6
Janet 6
Jessie 6
Rebecca 6
Rose 6
Barbara 5
Caroline 5
Fanny 5
Helen 5
Margret 5
Anna 4
Eliz. 4
Kate 4
Rachael 4
Grace 3

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 206
William 158
Thomas 118
James 110
George 85
Robert 81
Joseph 36
Henry 35
Edward 28
Charles 22
Andrew 20
David 20
Richard 20
Alexander 16
Arthur 14
Ralph 13
Peter 12
Frederick 9
Walter 9
Alfred 8
Herbert 7
Thos. 7
Archibald 6
Benjamin 6
Frank 6
Robt. 6
Samuel 6
Francis 5
Isaac 5
Jos. 5
Anthony 4
Matthew 4
Wm. 4
Alick 3
Daniel 3
Edwin 3
Fred 3
Jas. 3
Jno. 3
Tom 3
Albert 2
Allan 2
Cecil 2
Earnest 2
Ebenezer 2
Mark 2
Martin 2
Nathaniel 2
Patrick 2
Roger 2

FAQ

Knox surname: questions and answers

How common was the Knox surname in 1881?

In 1881, 5,144 people were recorded with the Knox surname. That placed it at #867 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Knox surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 8,226 in 2016. That gives Knox a modern rank of #798.

What does the Knox surname mean?

A Scottish surname derived from a place name meaning "round hill" in Old English.

What does the Knox map show?

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