NameCensus.

UK surname

Mountford

A habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "ford by the hill".

In the 1881 census there were 2,667 people recorded with the Mountford surname, ranking it #1,664 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 3,864, ranked #1,750, down from #1,664 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Norton-in-the-Moors, Wolstanton and London parishes. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Stoke-on-Trent.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Mountford is 4,237 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 44.9%.

1881 census count

2,667

Ranked #1,664

Modern count

3,864

2016, ranked #1,750

Peak year

1999

4,237 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Mountford had 2,667 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,664 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 3,864 in 2016, ranked #1,750.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 3,783 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Mountford surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Mountford surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Mountford 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 1,650 #1,742
1861 historical 1,665 #1,720
1881 historical 2,667 #1,664
1891 historical 2,931 #1,604
1901 historical 3,439 #1,614
1911 historical 3,783 #1,367
1997 modern 2,991 #2,163
1998 modern 4,139 #1,632
1999 modern 4,237 #1,604
2000 modern 4,183 #1,616
2001 modern 4,084 #1,615
2002 modern 4,153 #1,628
2003 modern 4,025 #1,640
2004 modern 4,017 #1,642
2005 modern 3,936 #1,653
2006 modern 3,874 #1,685
2007 modern 3,918 #1,683
2008 modern 3,952 #1,674
2009 modern 3,990 #1,703
2010 modern 4,009 #1,732
2011 modern 4,043 #1,694
2012 modern 3,954 #1,702
2013 modern 3,951 #1,738
2014 modern 3,948 #1,743
2015 modern 3,905 #1,742
2016 modern 3,864 #1,750

Geography

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Where Mountfords are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Norton-in-the-Moors, Wolstanton, London parishes, Burslem and Birmingham Town: Birmingham. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Stoke-on-Trent. 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 Norton-in-the-Moors Staffordshire
2 Wolstanton Staffordshire
3 London parishes London 3
4 Burslem Staffordshire
5 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Stoke-on-Trent 008 Stoke-on-Trent
2 Stoke-on-Trent 006 Stoke-on-Trent
3 Stoke-on-Trent 004 Stoke-on-Trent
4 Stoke-on-Trent 009 Stoke-on-Trent
5 Stoke-on-Trent 007 Stoke-on-Trent

Forenames

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First names often paired with Mountford

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Mountford

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

Small Town Suburbia

Nationally, the Mountford surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Small Town Suburbia, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Mountford 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 is predominantly comprised of married couples with no resident dependent children, living in areas characterised neither by under-occupancy nor overcrowding throughout the UK in or adjacent to small towns. White ethnic groups and affiliation with Christianity predominates. Housing tends to be predominantly semi-detached or detached and workers are employed principally in managerial and professional occupations, with semi-skilled occupations also in evidence. These areas of the Supergroup are of higher population density.

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

The Greater London Mix

Group

Skilled Trades and Construction Workers

Within London, Mountford is most associated with areas classed as Skilled Trades and Construction 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

These scattered, peripheral and often low residential density neighbourhoods house more workers in skilled trades and construction. Few households rent social housing and there are few students. Multiple car ownership is higher than the Supergroup average, perhaps because of poorer public transport connectivity. Incidence of mixed or multiple ethnicity is below the Supergroup average, and the absence of individuals identifying as Pakistani or Other Asian groups is also less pronounced. Flatted accommodation is less dominant than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

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

Mountford is most concentrated in decile 6 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

6
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Mountford 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 Mountford 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 Mountford, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Mountford

The surname Mountford is of English origin, tracing its roots back to the 14th century. It is a locational name derived from various places called Mountford, such as those found in the counties of Shropshire and Warwickshire. The name itself is composed of the Old English elements "munt," meaning hill or mountain, and "ford," referring to a shallow river crossing.

Mountford is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror. Entries in this historic document mention individuals bearing variations of the name, including Monteford and Mundeford.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the surname Mountford is that of Robert de Munteford, who held lands in Shropshire during the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307). Another notable figure from this period is Sir Baldwin de Mountford, a knight who fought alongside King Edward III (1312-1377) in the Hundred Years' War against France.

In the 15th century, John Mountford (c. 1420-1485) gained prominence as a distinguished lawyer and served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench under King Henry VI (1422-1461) and King Edward IV (1442-1483).

The surname Mountford also has associations with various place names, including Mountford Bridge in Shropshire and Mountford Hill in Warwickshire. These locations likely derived their names from the surname itself or vice versa.

Among the notable individuals bearing the Mountford surname in later centuries are William Mountford (1665-1692), an English actor and playwright during the Restoration period, and Edward Mountford (1655-1728), an English architect best known for his work on the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Another prominent figure was Sir Edward Mountford (1801-1888), a British civil engineer and architect who designed several notable structures, including the Holborn Viaduct in London. Lastly, Wilbur Mountford (1875-1936) was an Australian anthropologist and ethnologist renowned for his studies of Aboriginal Australian cultures.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Mountford families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Mountford 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 1,301 Mountfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 14.84x.

County Total Index
Staffordshire 1,301 14.84x
Warwickshire 346 5.28x
Worcestershire 207 6.10x
Middlesex 108 0.42x
Cheshire 102 1.78x
Surrey 82 0.65x
Lancashire 62 0.20x
Shropshire 57 2.54x
Yorkshire 49 0.19x
Essex 41 0.80x
Kent 36 0.41x
Durham 32 0.41x
Herefordshire 31 2.91x
Derbyshire 30 0.74x
Devon 27 0.50x
Nottinghamshire 18 0.51x
Northamptonshire 14 0.57x
Leicestershire 12 0.42x
Lanarkshire 11 0.13x
Montgomeryshire 10 1.68x
Sussex 10 0.23x
Cambridgeshire 9 0.55x
Berkshire 8 0.41x
Buckinghamshire 8 0.51x
Hampshire 8 0.15x
Radnorshire 7 3.34x
Gloucestershire 5 0.10x
Hertfordshire 5 0.28x
Cornwall 4 0.14x
Wiltshire 4 0.17x
Cardiganshire 3 0.47x
Lincolnshire 3 0.07x
Oxfordshire 3 0.19x
Suffolk 3 0.09x
Bedfordshire 2 0.15x
Somerset 2 0.05x
Glamorgan 1 0.02x
Monmouthshire 1 0.05x
Northumberland 1 0.03x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Stoke Upon Trent in Staffordshire leads with 342 Mountfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 36.78x.

Place Total Index
Stoke Upon Trent 342 36.78x
Norton In Moors 163 351.14x
Burslem 162 64.50x
Aston 148 8.20x
Birmingham 127 5.82x
Smallthorne 110 337.94x
Wolstanton 51 19.15x
Leek Lowe 44 37.72x
Stafford St Mary 36 29.00x
Lambeth 30 1.32x
Kings Norton 29 9.53x
Walsall Foreign 29 6.40x
Odd Rode 28 98.59x
Castle Church 27 51.23x
Kidderminster Borough 27 13.60x
Wolverhampton 26 3.86x
Wethersfield 21 162.41x
Church Gresley 20 30.91x
West Bromwich 20 3.98x
Audley 19 21.90x
Darlington 17 5.70x
Harborne 17 6.05x
Rugeley 17 27.02x
Hallow 16 96.33x
Newcastle Under Lyme 16 10.31x
Stone 16 14.27x
Burntwood Edial 15 26.78x
Dudley 15 3.64x
Bovey Tracey 14 74.03x
Ecclesall Bierlow 14 2.67x
Ribbesford 14 49.59x
Basford 13 8.06x
Clapham 13 4.00x
Poplar London 13 2.65x
Trentham 13 17.43x
Chelsea London 12 1.53x
Islington London 12 0.48x
Battersea 11 1.15x
Charlton Next Woolwich 11 11.90x
Cradley 11 35.85x
Glasgow 11 0.74x
Handsworth 11 5.09x
Hoyland Nether 11 17.42x
Kidderminster Foreign 11 22.94x
Caverswall 10 21.94x
Redditch 10 14.54x
Threapwood 10 584.80x
Bethnal Green London 9 0.80x
Churchstoke 9 80.14x
Cradley 9 57.77x
Hasbury 9 40.56x
Leamington Priors 9 5.58x
Nantwich 9 13.51x
Newington 9 0.94x
Oldham 9 0.90x
Paddington London 9 0.94x
Shrewsbury St Mary 9 10.16x
St Andrewthe Less 9 4.79x
Wentnor 9 138.89x
Winslow 9 245.23x
Wolstanton Chesterton 9 20.08x
Wolstanton Thursfield 9 84.59x
Brewood 8 31.65x
Brighton 8 0.91x
Gateshead 8 1.38x
Great Sampford 8 145.45x
Hulme 8 1.24x
Kingswinford 8 2.51x
Lighthorne 8 250.78x
Little Sutton 8 103.90x
St Stephen Coleman 8 115.61x
Tranmere 8 3.80x
Wednesbury 8 3.65x
Witton 8 20.63x
Armitage 7 61.30x
Bedworth 7 14.64x
Bromley London 7 1.22x
Enville 7 101.74x
Middlesbrough 7 2.09x
Wednesfield 7 5.42x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 189
Sarah 113
Elizabeth 95
Ann 57
Jane 52
Emma 51
Hannah 46
Eliza 45
Annie 43
Ellen 40
Emily 38
Harriet 29
Alice 28
Maria 28
Florence 23
Fanny 22
Martha 20
Charlotte 18
Louisa 14
Margaret 13
Edith 12
Ada 11
Caroline 11
Catherine 11
Clara 11
Julia 11
Minnie 11
Lucy 10
Esther 9
Frances 9
Kate 9
Lydia 9
Agnes 8
Anne 8
Rosa 8
Rose 8
Amy 7
Edna 7
Gertrude 7
Beatrice 6
Harriett 6
Lizzie 6
Matilda 6
Cecilia 5
Ethel 5
Jessie 5
Selina 5
Lavinia 4
Lilly 4
Nelly 4

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 159
William 126
Thomas 112
George 102
Joseph 70
James 69
Henry 50
Samuel 48
Arthur 33
Charles 32
Alfred 30
Frederick 30
Edward 28
Richard 28
Albert 19
Enoch 16
Walter 16
Edwin 15
Ernest 14
Harry 14
Ralph 14
Elijah 13
Isaac 10
David 8
Robert 8
Benjamin 7
Adam 6
Frank 6
Fred 6
Herbert 6
Hugh 6
Francis 5
Levi 5
Wm. 5
Christopher 4
Fredrick 4
Geo. 4
Jesse 4
Joshua 4
Peter 4
Thos. 4
Chas. 3
Josiah 3
Lewis 3
Louis 3
Mark 3
Richd. 3
Simeon 3
Jude 2
Leonard 2

FAQ

Mountford surname: questions and answers

How common was the Mountford surname in 1881?

In 1881, 2,667 people were recorded with the Mountford surname. That placed it at #1,664 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Mountford surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 3,864 in 2016. That gives Mountford a modern rank of #1,750.

What does the Mountford surname mean?

A habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "ford by the hill".

What does the Mountford map show?

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