NameCensus.

UK surname

Musson

An Anglo-Norman surname derived from the Old French word "mousson", meaning young bullock or steer.

In the 1881 census there were 1,480 people recorded with the Musson surname, ranking it #2,826 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 1,818, ranked #3,488, down from #2,826 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, Nottingham St Mary and Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include South Kesteven, Melton and North Kesteven.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Musson is 2,184 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 22.8%.

1881 census count

1,480

Ranked #2,826

Modern count

1,818

2016, ranked #3,488

Peak year

1911

2,184 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Musson had 1,480 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #2,826 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 1,818 in 2016, ranked #3,488.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 2,184 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Musson surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Musson surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Musson 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 995 #2,811
1861 historical 781 #3,521
1881 historical 1,480 #2,826
1891 historical 1,416 #3,079
1901 historical 1,857 #2,831
1911 historical 2,184 #2,309
1997 modern 1,958 #3,104
1998 modern 1,979 #3,183
1999 modern 1,980 #3,204
2000 modern 1,942 #3,241
2001 modern 1,907 #3,228
2002 modern 1,916 #3,290
2003 modern 1,869 #3,281
2004 modern 1,861 #3,300
2005 modern 1,768 #3,425
2006 modern 1,765 #3,434
2007 modern 1,778 #3,448
2008 modern 1,775 #3,476
2009 modern 1,799 #3,508
2010 modern 1,854 #3,492
2011 modern 1,845 #3,457
2012 modern 1,802 #3,477
2013 modern 1,853 #3,442
2014 modern 1,851 #3,473
2015 modern 1,837 #3,475
2016 modern 1,818 #3,488

Geography

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Where Mussons are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, Nottingham St Mary, Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars, Heanor and Grantham. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to South Kesteven, Melton and North Kesteven. 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 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
2 Nottingham St Mary Nottinghamshire
3 Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars Leicestershire
4 Heanor Nottinghamshire
5 Grantham Lincolnshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 South Kesteven 006 South Kesteven
2 Melton 001 Melton
3 North Kesteven 012 North Kesteven
4 Melton 005 Melton
5 Melton 002 Melton

Forenames

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First names often paired with Musson

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Musson

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Musson, 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 Musson surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Musson 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

Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs

Group

London Fringe

Within London, Musson is most associated with areas classed as London Fringe, part of Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs. 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

Predominantly located in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Greater London, residents of these neighbourhoods typically have their highest qualifications below degree (Level 4) level, with those still in work engaged in skilled trades and occupations in distribution, hotels and restaurants. There is low ethnic diversity in these neighbourhoods and high levels of Christian religious affiliation. Detached or terraced houses predominate, often with spare rooms.

Wider London pattern

The age distribution of these neighbourhoods is skewed towards the middle-aged and old, although few residents live alone or in communal establishments and numbers of dependent children are around average. Owner occupation is the norm, as is residence in detached or semi-detached houses. Residential densities are low and many households have spare rooms. Most residents were born in the UK and, aside from some identifying as members of Chinese or Indian ethnicities, identify as White. Mixed ethnicity households are rare. Incidence of married couples is higher than average and few individuals have never been married. A large proportion of individuals still in employment work in administrative and secretarial occupations, or in the construction industry. Few residents are students, and many households own more than one car.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Musson 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

Musson falls in decile 9 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.

9
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Musson

The surname Musson originated in England in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "musun," which means "sparrow." The name likely refers to someone who lived near or worked with sparrows, or perhaps had a physical characteristic that reminded others of a sparrow.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Musson can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a William Musson from Oxfordshire. The Hundred Rolls were a census-like survey conducted in England during the reign of King Edward I.

The Musson surname is also found in the Subsidy Rolls of 1327, which were tax records. These rolls list a John Musson from Yorkshire. This suggests that the name had spread to different parts of England by the 14th century.

During the Middle Ages, the name was sometimes spelled differently, such as Mussone or Musshon. These variations likely arose from regional dialects and the inconsistent spelling practices of the time.

One notable person with the Musson surname was Roger Musson, a member of the English gentry who lived in the 16th century. He was born in 1527 in Leicestershire and served as a member of Parliament for Warwickshire in 1555.

Another prominent figure was John Musson, an English clergyman born in 1615. He served as the rector of St. Margaret's Church in Leicester and wrote several religious works, including "A Treatise on the Lord's Supper" (1660).

In the 18th century, there was a family of Mussons who owned a successful brewery in Hertfordshire. The family patriarch, Thomas Musson (1712-1785), founded the brewery in 1754, and it remained in operation until the early 20th century.

A notable artist with the Musson surname was Alfred Musson (1828-1895), an English landscape painter known for his depictions of rural scenes in the counties of Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Finally, one of the most recent historical figures with the Musson name was Charles Musson (1884-1961), a British engineer and inventor. He is best known for developing the Musson Monorail, a pioneering system of elevated rail transportation that was tested in the 1920s and 1930s.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Musson families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Musson 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. Lincolnshire leads with 354 Mussons recorded in 1881 and an index of 15.31x.

County Total Index
Lincolnshire 354 15.31x
Leicestershire 270 16.84x
Nottinghamshire 257 13.19x
Derbyshire 121 5.35x
Middlesex 85 0.59x
Warwickshire 68 1.87x
Yorkshire 58 0.40x
Surrey 38 0.54x
Kent 29 0.59x
Lancashire 25 0.15x
Hampshire 23 0.78x
Staffordshire 21 0.43x
Essex 19 0.67x
Northamptonshire 17 1.25x
Oxfordshire 13 1.46x
Shropshire 12 0.96x
Glamorgan 10 0.40x
Rutland 9 8.48x
Cambridgeshire 6 0.66x
Cheshire 6 0.19x
Durham 6 0.14x
Sussex 6 0.25x
Buckinghamshire 5 0.57x
Huntingdonshire 5 1.74x
Worcestershire 5 0.26x
Berkshire 2 0.18x
Norfolk 2 0.09x
Renfrewshire 2 0.18x
Bedfordshire 1 0.13x
Channel Islands 1 0.23x
Devon 1 0.03x
Dorset 1 0.11x
Gloucestershire 1 0.04x
Lanarkshire 1 0.02x
Somerset 1 0.04x
Suffolk 1 0.06x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Nottingham St Mary in Nottinghamshire leads with 67 Mussons recorded in 1881 and an index of 13.29x.

Place Total Index
Nottingham St Mary 67 13.29x
Grantham 46 152.67x
Spittlegate 45 140.76x
Leicester St Margaret 30 7.68x
Corby 27 697.67x
Heanor 27 79.76x
Aston 26 2.59x
Scalford 21 617.65x
Carlton 20 89.97x
Harby 20 684.93x
Barrowby 19 476.19x
Horsley 18 132.16x
Litchurch 18 19.76x
Radford 18 18.18x
Croxton Keyrial 16 590.41x
Redmile 16 661.16x
Islington London 15 1.07x
Southwell 15 105.78x
Spalding 15 32.70x
Barrow Upon Soar 14 105.74x
Doncaster 14 13.38x
Barkestone 13 872.48x
Farnsfield 13 251.45x
Great Claybrooke 13 613.21x
Lambeth 13 1.03x
Thame 13 80.05x
Claypole 12 357.14x
Cotgrave 12 295.57x
Loughborough 12 16.50x
Rippingdale 12 439.56x
Andover 10 35.73x
Burbage 10 119.47x
Clawson 10 270.27x
Croydon 10 2.56x
Smalley 10 248.14x
Stamford St John 10 319.49x
Brading 9 22.85x
Gedling 9 280.37x
Hinckley 9 23.67x
Linton 9 151.26x
Mansfield 9 13.35x
Martin In Sleaford 9 222.22x
Welbourn 9 327.27x
West Ham 9 1.43x
Whittington 9 28.74x
Bedworth 8 30.08x
Camberwell 8 0.87x
Canterbury St Mary 8 24.17x
Clerkenwell London 8 2.34x
Cotham 8 1250.00x
East Ham 8 15.11x
Handsworth 8 6.65x
Kirkby Mallory Earl 8 104.03x
Louth 8 15.10x
Pinchbeck 8 53.98x
South Collingham 8 208.33x
Ashford 7 14.57x
Barkstone 7 283.40x
Basford 7 7.79x
Ecclesall Bierlow 7 2.40x
Elvaston 7 251.80x
Great Grimsby 7 4.77x
Hucknall Torkard 7 14.17x
Kirkby In Ashfield 7 33.59x
Manthorpe Cum Little 7 39.62x
Minting 7 402.30x
Newark Upon Trent 7 9.99x
Peatling Magna 7 721.65x
Polebrook 7 313.90x
Sculcoates 7 3.08x
St Marylebone London 7 0.91x
Stoke Newington London 7 6.22x
Surfleet 7 145.53x
Adderley 6 279.07x
Bolehall Glascote 6 38.86x
Donington 6 72.29x
Rotherham 6 7.43x
St Swithin Lincoln 6 16.51x
Stockton On Tees 6 2.89x
Tottenham 6 2.61x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 111
Elizabeth 69
Sarah 63
Ann 40
Emma 23
Jane 22
Eliza 21
Annie 19
Ellen 19
Clara 15
Fanny 13
Catherine 12
Harriet 12
Martha 12
Alice 10
Emily 10
Maria 10
Anne 9
Hannah 9
Louisa 9
Rebecca 9
Ruth 9
Ada 8
Charlotte 8
Edith 8
Kate 8
Lucy 8
Esther 7
Elizth. 5
Florence 5
Frances 5
Lydia 5
Minnie 5
Betsy 4
Caroline 4
Eleanor 4
Helen 4
Phoebe 4
Rose 4
Amy 3
Elsie 3
Harriett 3
Isabella 3
Julia 3
Margaret 3
Susannah 3
Deborah 2
Flora 2
Mabel 2
Matilda 2

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 108
John 106
Thomas 74
George 52
James 29
Joseph 22
Arthur 21
Charles 21
Samuel 21
Edward 19
Robert 19
Frederick 17
Henry 17
Richard 14
Harry 11
Frank 10
Walter 10
Herbert 9
Thos. 9
Albert 8
Francis 8
Alfred 6
Matthew 5
Tom 5
Wm. 5
Abraham 3
Ernest 3
Geo. 3
Job 3
Daniel 2
David 2
Earnest 2
Eber 2
Elijah 2
Fred 2
Harold 2
Horace 2
Jas. 2
Jesse 2
Philip 2
Vincent 2
Abel 1
Amos 1
Barnard 1
Benjamin 1
Bertram 1
Enock 1
Ezer 1
Ezra 1
Zaph 1

FAQ

Musson surname: questions and answers

How common was the Musson surname in 1881?

In 1881, 1,480 people were recorded with the Musson surname. That placed it at #2,826 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Musson surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 1,818 in 2016. That gives Musson a modern rank of #3,488.

What does the Musson surname mean?

An Anglo-Norman surname derived from the Old French word "mousson", meaning young bullock or steer.

What does the Musson map show?

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