NameCensus.

UK surname

Maclure

A Scottish surname derived from the Gaelic "MacLuair", meaning son of the gray one.

In the 1881 census there were 180 people recorded with the Maclure surname, ranking it #13,735 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 279, ranked #15,534, down from #13,735 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Govan Combination, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard and Manchester. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Skye South, Lochlash and Point.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Maclure is 287 in 2013. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 55.0%.

1881 census count

180

Ranked #13,735

Modern count

279

2016, ranked #15,534

Peak year

2013

287 bearers

Map years

6

1881 to 2016

Key insights

  • Maclure had 180 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #13,735 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 279 in 2016, ranked #15,534.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 223 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Maclure surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Maclure surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Maclure 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 74 #20,443
1861 historical 99 #21,294
1881 historical 180 #13,735
1891 historical 164 #17,205
1901 historical 223 #14,134
1911 historical 86 #24,243
1997 modern 230 #16,109
1998 modern 256 #15,436
1999 modern 263 #15,267
2000 modern 260 #15,360
2001 modern 250 #15,527
2002 modern 267 #15,123
2003 modern 252 #15,530
2004 modern 253 #15,583
2005 modern 247 #15,763
2006 modern 248 #15,820
2007 modern 253 #15,776
2008 modern 246 #16,247
2009 modern 247 #16,549
2010 modern 261 #16,294
2011 modern 257 #16,335
2012 modern 269 #15,706
2013 modern 287 #15,224
2014 modern 281 #15,583
2015 modern 279 #15,527
2016 modern 279 #15,534

Geography

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Where Maclures are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Govan Combination, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, Manchester, Bathgate and Glasgow. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Skye South, Lochlash, Point, Benbecula and North Uist and Doon Valley North. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Govan Combination Lanark
2 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
3 Manchester Lancashire
4 Bathgate Linlithgow
5 Glasgow Lanark

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Skye South Highland
2 Lochlash Highland
3 Point Na h-Eileanan Siar
4 Benbecula and North Uist Na h-Eileanan Siar
5 Doon Valley North East Ayrshire

Forenames

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First names often paired with Maclure

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Maclure

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

Retired Professionals

Group

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Maclure surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Maclure household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

European Enclaves

Within London, Maclure is most associated with areas classed as European Enclaves, 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

Many residents of these accessible neighbourhoods have wide-ranging non-UK European origins. Typically residing in privately rented flats, many residents live alone and are beyond normal retirement age. There are more students than elsewhere in the Supergroup, some of which live in communal establishments. Household residents are often drawn from different ethnic groups.

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

Maclure is most concentrated in decile 8 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.

8
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Maclure falls in decile 6 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

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

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Maclure

The surname MACLURE has its origins in Scotland, tracing back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning son and "lughair" meaning brightness or radiance, suggesting that the name may have initially referred to someone with a bright or radiant appearance.

The earliest recorded instances of the MACLURE name can be found in Scottish records from the 13th and 14th centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Maclure, who was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish nobles who swore fealty to King Edward I of England during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

In the 16th century, the MACLURE name appeared in various Scottish charters and land records, indicating that the family had established themselves as landowners and members of the gentry class. One notable figure from this period was Robert MACLURE, who was granted lands in Ayrshire in 1542 by King James V of Scotland.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the MACLURE name spread throughout various regions of Scotland, with concentrations in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and the Scottish Borders. One prominent individual from this time was Sir Thomas MACLURE (1632-1712), a Scottish merchant and landowner who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow.

In the 19th century, the MACLURE name gained wider recognition with the exploits of Sir Robert MACLURE (1807-1890), a British naval officer and explorer who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions. He was knighted in 1856 for his contributions to Arctic exploration and is remembered for his efforts to locate the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

Another notable figure from this period was Sir John MACLURE (1811-1877), a Scottish civil engineer and architect who designed several prominent buildings in Glasgow, including the Glasgow City Chambers and the University of Glasgow's main building.

As the MACLURE name spread beyond Scotland, it also gained a foothold in other parts of the United Kingdom and beyond. One individual of note was Sir Samuel MACLURE (1860-1944), a Canadian architect who was responsible for designing many iconic buildings in British Columbia, including the Empress Hotel in Victoria and the Vancouver City Hall.

Throughout its history, the MACLURE surname has been associated with various place names and locations, including the village of Maclure in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, which likely derived its name from the MACLURE family who were once landowners in the area.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Maclure families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Maclure 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 35 Maclures recorded in 1881 and an index of 7.70x.

County Total Index
Lanarkshire 35 7.70x
Ayrshire 20 19.03x
Middlesex 14 1.00x
Lancashire 13 0.78x
Montgomeryshire 11 34.17x
Midlothian 8 4.25x
West Lothian 7 33.10x
Wigtownshire 6 32.17x
Surrey 5 0.73x
Dunbartonshire 4 10.60x
Fife 3 3.61x
Inverness-shire 3 7.15x
Renfrewshire 3 2.76x
Derbyshire 2 0.91x
Leicestershire 2 1.28x
Yorkshire 2 0.14x
Aberdeenshire 1 0.77x
Argyllshire 1 2.56x
Cambridgeshire 1 1.12x
Cheshire 1 0.32x
Dumfriesshire 1 3.22x
Selkirkshire 1 7.87x

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 29 Maclures recorded in 1881 and an index of 25.23x.

Place Total Index
Barony 29 25.23x
Newtown 11 533.98x
Kilmarnock 9 71.94x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 8 10.57x
Bathgate 7 152.51x
Govan 6 5.34x
Dalry 5 101.01x
Ealing 5 39.84x
Islington London 5 3.67x
West Derby 5 10.25x
Ayr 4 80.65x
New Kilpatrick 4 111.42x
Kensington London 3 3.84x
Kirkcowan 3 476.19x
Lytham 3 118.11x
Penninghame 3 157.89x
Richmond 3 31.28x
West Greenock 3 15.35x
Leicester St Margaret 2 5.27x
Liverpool 2 1.98x
Scoonie 2 111.11x
Tarbolton 2 115.61x
Thornton In Fylde 2 54.79x
Wirksworth 2 100.00x
Aberdeen Old Machar 1 3.68x
Bowdon 1 81.30x
Bracadale 1 217.39x
Bradford 1 2.97x
Dunoon Kilmun 1 32.79x
Galashiels 1 21.28x
Lambeth 1 0.82x
Lochmaben 1 73.53x
North Meols 1 6.13x
Petersham 1 370.37x
Portree 1 64.52x
Sleat 1 100.00x
St Andrews 1 26.46x
St Pancras London 1 0.88x
Stainland Cum Old 1 42.02x
Trumpington 1 222.22x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Jane 6
Mary 4
E. 2
Ann 1
Constance 1
Emma 1
Fanny 1
Harriet 1
Jessie 1
Kate 1
Lilly 1
Lizzy 1
Maggie 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 4
Peter 4
Andrew 2
Charles 2
James 2
William 2
Alex 1
Alfred 1
Au. 1
Edward 1
Henry 1
Herbert 1
Horace 1
J.H. 1
Joseph 1
Sydney 1
Walter 1

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 Maclure households.

FAQ

Maclure surname: questions and answers

How common was the Maclure surname in 1881?

In 1881, 180 people were recorded with the Maclure surname. That placed it at #13,735 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Maclure surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 279 in 2016. That gives Maclure a modern rank of #15,534.

What does the Maclure surname mean?

A Scottish surname derived from the Gaelic "MacLuair", meaning son of the gray one.

What does the Maclure map show?

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