NameCensus.

UK surname

Neilson

Son of Neil, an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud."

In the 1881 census there were 4,247 people recorded with the Neilson surname, ranking it #1,054 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 4,733, ranked #1,437, down from #1,054 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to New Monkland, Govan Combination and Edinburgh. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Raploch, Paisley Gallowhill and Hillington and Wakefield.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Neilson is 4,733 in 2016. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 11.4%.

1881 census count

4,247

Ranked #1,054

Modern count

4,733

2016, ranked #1,437

Peak year

2016

4,733 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Neilson had 4,247 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,054 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 4,733 in 2016, ranked #1,437.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 4,488 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Neilson surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Neilson surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Neilson 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 3,084 #936
1861 historical 3,265 #876
1881 historical 4,247 #1,054
1891 historical 4,204 #1,142
1901 historical 4,488 #1,270
1911 historical 972 #4,651
1997 modern 4,401 #1,491
1998 modern 4,524 #1,493
1999 modern 4,544 #1,505
2000 modern 4,574 #1,487
2001 modern 4,472 #1,486
2002 modern 4,623 #1,475
2003 modern 4,517 #1,469
2004 modern 4,583 #1,450
2005 modern 4,477 #1,462
2006 modern 4,470 #1,467
2007 modern 4,517 #1,461
2008 modern 4,576 #1,452
2009 modern 4,637 #1,473
2010 modern 4,726 #1,478
2011 modern 4,657 #1,478
2012 modern 4,595 #1,461
2013 modern 4,668 #1,473
2014 modern 4,719 #1,464
2015 modern 4,710 #1,448
2016 modern 4,733 #1,437

Geography

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Where Neilsons are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around New Monkland, Govan Combination, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paisley Abbey. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Raploch, Paisley Gallowhill and Hillington, Wakefield, The Vale of Glamorgan and Grange, Howard and Gargieston. 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 New Monkland Lanark
2 Govan Combination Lanark
3 Edinburgh Edinburgh
4 Glasgow Lanark
5 Paisley Abbey Renfrew

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Raploch Stirling
2 Paisley Gallowhill and Hillington Renfrewshire
3 Wakefield 010 Wakefield
4 The Vale of Glamorgan 007 Vale of Glamorgan
5 Grange, Howard and Gargieston East Ayrshire

Forenames

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First names often paired with Neilson

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Neilson

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

Neilson 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

Neilson 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 Neilson is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of Over 70 mbit/s.

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

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

Meaning and origin of Neilson

The surname Neilson has its origins in Scotland, dating back to the 13th century. It is a patronymic name derived from the personal name Neil, which is a Scottish form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud." The suffix "-son" indicates "son of."

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the late 13th century, where individuals with the name Neilson are mentioned. These rolls were records of financial transactions and taxes paid to the Scottish Crown.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Neilson, a Scottish landowner and nobleman who lived in the late 14th century. He was recorded as owning lands in the county of Ayrshire, which suggests that the name may have originated in that region.

In the 16th century, the name Neilson appears in the records of the Scottish Parliament, where several individuals with this surname are mentioned as representatives from various shires and burghs.

A notable bearer of the name was Samuel Neilson (1761-1803), an Irish Presbyterian minister and political activist who was a leading figure in the Society of United Irishmen, a revolutionary republican movement in the late 18th century.

Another prominent individual was John Neilson (1776-1848), a Canadian newspaper publisher and journalist who founded the Quebec Gazette, one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in North America.

In the 19th century, James Beaumont Neilson (1792-1865) was a Scottish engineer and inventor who developed the hot blast process for smelting iron, which significantly increased the efficiency of blast furnaces and revolutionized the iron industry.

Further instances of the name can be found in various historical records and documents, such as court records, parish registers, and census records, across Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, as well as in areas where Scottish immigrants settled, such as North America and Australia.

The surname Neilson has also been subject to various spelling variations over time, including Neilson, Nielson, Nelson, and Nilson, among others, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Neilson families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Neilson 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 1,764 Neilsons recorded in 1881 and an index of 13.25x.

County Total Index
Lanarkshire 1,764 13.25x
Midlothian 438 7.94x
Renfrewshire 280 8.77x
Stirlingshire 191 12.58x
Angus 160 4.19x
Fife 148 6.07x
Lancashire 145 0.30x
Ayrshire 144 4.67x
Middlesex 117 0.28x
Dunbartonshire 74 6.69x
Perthshire 72 3.90x
Durham 63 0.51x
Kirkcudbrightshire 61 10.23x
West Lothian 56 9.03x
East Lothian 47 8.62x
Surrey 43 0.21x
Northumberland 42 0.69x
Yorkshire 39 0.10x
Dumfriesshire 32 3.52x
Kincardineshire 27 5.38x
Cheshire 25 0.28x
Clackmannanshire 25 7.35x
Kent 18 0.13x
Wigtownshire 18 3.29x
Lincolnshire 15 0.23x
Peeblesshire 15 7.75x
Argyllshire 13 1.13x
Aberdeenshire 11 0.29x
Roxburghshire 11 1.47x
Berwickshire 10 2.01x
Gloucestershire 10 0.12x
Staffordshire 10 0.07x
Derbyshire 9 0.14x
Devon 8 0.09x
Berkshire 7 0.23x
Buteshire 7 2.81x
Essex 6 0.07x
Royal Navy 5 1.02x
Cornwall 4 0.09x
Flintshire 4 0.36x
Inverness-shire 4 0.33x
Rutland 4 1.32x
Selkirkshire 4 1.07x
Channel Islands 3 0.25x
Cumberland 3 0.08x
Northamptonshire 3 0.08x
Somerset 3 0.05x
Sussex 3 0.04x
Warwickshire 3 0.03x
Caithness 2 0.35x
Glamorgan 2 0.03x
Shropshire 2 0.06x
Anglesey 1 0.14x
Banffshire 1 0.12x
Buckinghamshire 1 0.04x
Caernarfonshire 1 0.06x
Hampshire 1 0.01x
Hertfordshire 1 0.04x
Kinross-shire 1 0.96x
Monmouthshire 1 0.03x
Morayshire 1 0.16x
Orkney 1 0.22x
Westmorland 1 0.11x

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 358 Neilsons recorded in 1881 and an index of 10.62x.

Place Total Index
Barony 358 10.62x
Govan 274 8.32x
Glasgow 248 10.49x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 154 6.94x
New Monkland 126 32.01x
Old Monkland 96 18.17x
Hamilton 95 25.58x
Abbey 93 19.10x
Falkirk 73 20.54x
Maryhill 67 25.70x
Cambusnethan 62 20.96x
Bothwell 60 16.61x
Dalserf 60 45.15x
Dundee 57 4.00x
Montrose 40 17.30x
Blantyre 39 28.13x
Dunfermline 39 10.41x
Lesmahagow 37 26.27x
Paisley High Church 36 14.17x
Toxteth Park 36 2.18x
Stewarton 34 55.77x
Duddingston 32 28.90x
Kilmarnock 31 8.45x
Shettleston 31 26.00x
South Leith 30 4.83x
Neilston 29 18.10x
St Pancras London 29 0.88x
Dalziel 27 18.85x
Shotts 27 16.94x
Edinburgh St Georges 26 22.71x
Lasswade 26 20.62x
Liberton 26 30.54x
Cupar 25 23.58x
Gateshead 23 2.51x
West Greenock 23 4.02x
Cambuslang 22 16.39x
Crawford 22 88.53x
Lambeth 21 0.58x
Rutherglen 21 10.75x
Denny 19 23.52x
Liff Benvie 19 3.28x
Whitburn 19 21.21x
Cumbernauld 18 29.69x
Row 18 12.58x
Bonhill 17 9.57x
Cathcart 17 9.85x
Newbattle 17 36.06x
Stirling 17 8.88x
Balfron 16 85.33x
Haddington 16 19.87x
Inveresk 16 10.71x
Killearn 16 100.31x
Liverpool 16 0.54x
Buittle 15 107.14x
Kirkdale 15 1.83x
Renfrew 15 14.24x
Avondale 14 17.98x
Eastwood 14 7.12x
Newton On Ayr 14 15.17x
Perth West Church 14 15.96x
Tillicoultry 14 18.51x
Dalmellington 13 14.35x
Slamannan 13 15.63x
Bethnal Green London 12 0.67x
Everton 12 0.77x
Nigg 12 28.93x
North Leith 12 4.70x
Uphall 12 17.60x
Annan 11 14.08x
Dunblane 11 24.87x
Edinburgh Canongate 11 7.84x
Kilmalcolm 11 28.77x
Leslie 11 17.82x
Abbotshall 10 10.98x
Brechin 10 6.67x
Douglas 10 26.05x
Dumfries 10 11.14x
Newcastle On Tyne All Sts 10 2.73x
Temple 10 45.60x
Yester 10 76.28x

Top female names

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

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 41
William 24
James 18
Robert 18
Thomas 18
George 15
Charles 11
Walter 8
Alexander 7
David 6
Andrew 5
Henry 5
Wm. 5
Carl 4
Edward 4
Peter 4
Albert 3
Benjamin 3
Daniel 3
Frederick 3
Herbert 3
Alfred 2
Arthur 2
Edwin 2
Ernest 2
Jonathan 2
Joseph 2
Matthew 2
Neil 2
Samuel 2
Alexdr. 1
Angus 1
Axel 1
Boyd 1
C.A. 1
Clinton 1
Cornealis 1
Cornelius 1
Davied 1
Donald 1
Douglas 1
Ebenezer 1
Enic 1
H. 1
H.T. 1
Harry 1
Hendrick 1
Herman 1
Kneild 1
Mathias 1

FAQ

Neilson surname: questions and answers

How common was the Neilson surname in 1881?

In 1881, 4,247 people were recorded with the Neilson surname. That placed it at #1,054 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Neilson surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 4,733 in 2016. That gives Neilson a modern rank of #1,437.

What does the Neilson surname mean?

Son of Neil, an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud."

What does the Neilson map show?

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