1881 census occupation

Private surnames in the 1881 census

This page lists surnames most often recorded with the occupation Private in 1881. Occupational titles are shown as recorded and transcribed, so similar jobs, variant spellings and mistakes can appear separately.

Occupation summary

733 surnames are listed with this occupation, covering 1,917 people in the 1881 records.

The leading surname here is Kelly, with 50 people recorded as Private.

Surnames most linked with Private

These figures count people whose occupation was recorded under this exact title. A related job may appear under a separate spelling, so this is best read as a census snapshot rather than a cleaned modern job category.

#	Surname	People	1881 total
1	Kelly	50	30,644
2	Murphy	40	23,790
3	Ryan	35	9,176
4	Walsh	35	15,864
5	Murray	25	37,222
6	Connor	21	8,809
7	Burke	19	8,736
8	Doyle	17	7,258
9	Flynn	17	5,709
10	Byrne	15	4,166
11	Donovan	15	4,702
12	Fitzgerald	15	5,205
13	Power	15	4,015
14	Reilly	15	3,170
15	Hamilton	14	22,515
16	Brien	13	1,008
17	Carroll	13	6,003
18	Gallagher	13	4,530
19	Shea	13	2,002
20	Callaghan	12	3,363
21	Kavanagh	12	1,142
22	Maher	12	1,086
23	Whelan	12	2,014
24	Brennan	11	3,116
25	Daley	11	3,526
26	Duffy	11	6,593
27	Farrell	11	5,660
28	Kennedy	11	18,038
29	Nolan	11	4,062
30	Reid	11	31,585
31	Robertson	11	50,348
32	Brady	10	5,301
33	Bryan	10	7,426
34	Cameron	10	23,281
35	Carey	10	5,521
36	Fitzpatrick	10	4,393
37	Barry	9	5,349
38	Clifford	9	6,147
39	Dunne	9	977
40	Neill	9	1,967
41	Obrien	9	7,799
42	Quinn	9	5,716
43	Boyle	8	7,780
44	Driscoll	8	3,305
45	Foley	8	3,760
46	Madden	8	2,586
47	Brennon	7	131
48	Cavanagh	7	2,255
49	Conway	7	5,592
50	Curran	7	2,509
51	Johnstone	7	13,626
52	Maloney	7	2,464
53	Paton	7	6,710
54	Boyd	6	10,455
55	Connell	6	5,144
56	Cronin	6	1,061
57	Cummins	6	2,553
58	Delaney	6	1,916
59	Dillon	6	2,948
60	Dolan	6	2,611
61	Durkin	6	1,310
62	Gorman	6	3,623
63	Grady	6	1,972
64	Keating	6	1,475
65	Mahoney	6	3,153
66	Nagle	6	359
67	Rourke	6	1,473
68	Way	6	3,241
69	Brophy	5	394
70	Cahill	5	1,353
71	Cleary	5	1,235
72	Cotter	5	1,124
73	Coyne	5	1,580
74	Flanagan	5	2,341
75	Glynn	5	1,322
76	Kane	5	2,422
77	Keegan	5	990
78	Kenny	5	3,596
79	Kerr	5	16,411
80	Mack	5	3,018
81	Mackey	5	1,155
82	Mahon	5	1,326
83	Malone	5	2,398
84	Manley	5	3,350
85	Meehan	5	600
86	Noonan	5	511
87	Oconnor	5	3,030
88	Reardon	5	1,301
89	Rendall	5	1,592
90	Scully	5	915
91	Stuart	5	7,168
92	Blair	4	7,768
93	Bourke	4	718
94	Britt	4	528
95	Carney	4	2,699
96	Carthy	4	492
97	Cheeseman	4	2,355
98	Conroy	4	2,214
99	Costello	4	1,819
100	Courtney	4	2,136