NameCensus.

UK surname

Orr

A toponymic surname derived from the Old Norse word for "arrow" or referring to someone who lived on a shoreline.

In the 1881 census there were 1,213 people recorded with the Orr surname, ranking it #3,333 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 7,972, ranked #830, up from #3,333 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Govan Combination, Edinburgh and Greenock. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Forth, Braehead and Auchengray, Paisley Central and Paisley North East.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Orr is 8,154 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 557.2%.

1881 census count

1,213

Ranked #3,333

Modern count

7,972

2016, ranked #830

Peak year

2010

8,154 bearers

Map years

7

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Orr had 1,213 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #3,333 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 7,972 in 2016, ranked #830.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 6,163 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Orr surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Orr surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Orr 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 3,383 #848
1861 historical 11 #32,452
1881 historical 1,213 #3,333
1891 historical 4,019 #1,190
1901 historical 6,163 #902
1997 modern 7,644 #841
1998 modern 7,874 #850
1999 modern 7,856 #859
2000 modern 7,913 #845
2001 modern 7,670 #854
2002 modern 7,854 #856
2003 modern 7,645 #858
2004 modern 7,683 #853
2005 modern 7,660 #839
2006 modern 7,666 #836
2007 modern 7,704 #841
2008 modern 7,831 #831
2009 modern 7,972 #837
2010 modern 8,154 #836
2011 modern 8,020 #839
2012 modern 7,814 #842
2013 modern 7,922 #844
2014 modern 7,989 #837
2015 modern 7,964 #831
2016 modern 7,972 #830

Geography

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Where Orrs are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Govan Combination, Edinburgh, Greenock, 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 Forth, Braehead and Auchengray, Paisley Central, Paisley North East, Shortlees and Northumberland. 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 Govan Combination Lanark
2 Edinburgh Edinburgh
3 Greenock Renfrew
4 Glasgow Lanark
5 Paisley Abbey Renfrew

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Forth, Braehead and Auchengray South Lanarkshire
2 Paisley Central Renfrewshire
3 Paisley North East Renfrewshire
4 Shortlees East Ayrshire
5 Northumberland 006 Northumberland

Forenames

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First names often paired with Orr

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Orr

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

Orr 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

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

Meaning and origin of Orr

The surname Orr is of Scottish origin, derived from the Old Norse word 'aurr', meaning 'gravel bank' or 'gravelly ground'. It is believed to have originated as a toponymic surname, referring to someone who lived near a gravel bank or on gravelly ground.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Orr can be traced back to the 13th century in Scotland. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Adam Ore, who was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical record of Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England.

In the 16th century, the surname Orr was found in various parts of Scotland, particularly in the counties of Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and Lanarkshire. The name was also associated with the island of Orr (sometimes spelled Ore), located in the Firth of Clyde off the coast of Ayrshire.

Notable historical figures bearing the surname Orr include Robert Orr (c. 1675-1711), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and philosopher, and Sir Andrew Orr (1806-1892), a Scottish businessman and philanthropist who founded the Orr Ewing & Co. textile manufacturing company in Glasgow.

In the 17th century, the surname Orr was also found in the Ulster Plantation in Ireland, where many Scottish settlers established themselves. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in Ireland was that of John Orr, who was granted land in County Antrim in 1610.

Other notable individuals with the surname Orr include James Orr (1844-1913), a Canadian politician and businessman; Sir John Boyd Orr (1880-1971), a Scottish biologist and nutritionist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949; and Mary Orr (1914-2008), an American film actress known for her roles in several popular films in the 1930s.

The surname Orr has also been found in various spellings over the centuries, including Ore, Oure, and Orre, reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions in different regions and time periods.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Orr families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Orr 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 1,418 Orrs recorded in 1881 and an index of 8.91x.

County Total Index
Lanarkshire 1,418 8.91x
Ayrshire 792 21.50x
Renfrewshire 582 15.26x
Lancashire 427 0.73x
Midlothian 357 5.41x
Dunbartonshire 136 10.28x
Middlesex 108 0.22x
Yorkshire 83 0.17x
Cumberland 79 1.86x
Durham 79 0.54x
Argyllshire 74 5.40x
Stirlingshire 71 3.91x
Surrey 61 0.25x
Northumberland 60 0.82x
Fife 59 2.02x
Kent 59 0.35x
Angus 56 1.23x
Wigtownshire 48 7.34x
West Lothian 47 6.34x
Cheshire 44 0.40x
Roxburghshire 38 4.26x
East Lothian 34 5.21x
Perthshire 34 1.54x
Devon 25 0.24x
Selkirkshire 25 5.61x
Worcestershire 24 0.37x
Hampshire 18 0.18x
Essex 16 0.16x
Gloucestershire 15 0.16x
Kirkcudbrightshire 15 2.11x
Berkshire 14 0.38x
Isle of Man 10 1.09x
Morayshire 10 1.31x
Buteshire 9 3.02x
Leicestershire 9 0.16x
Westmorland 9 0.83x
Bedfordshire 8 0.31x
Derbyshire 8 0.10x
Suffolk 8 0.13x
Channel Islands 6 0.41x
Somerset 6 0.08x
Sussex 6 0.07x
Glamorgan 5 0.06x
Norfolk 5 0.07x
Staffordshire 5 0.03x
Berwickshire 4 0.67x
Dumfriesshire 4 0.37x
Inverness-shire 4 0.27x
Royal Navy 4 0.68x
Aberdeenshire 3 0.07x
Peeblesshire 3 1.30x
Warwickshire 3 0.02x
Banffshire 2 0.20x
Clackmannanshire 2 0.49x
Hertfordshire 2 0.06x
Lincolnshire 2 0.03x
Nairnshire 2 1.33x
Northamptonshire 2 0.04x
Ross-shire 2 0.15x
Anglesey 1 0.11x
Kincardineshire 1 0.17x
Nottinghamshire 1 0.02x
Shropshire 1 0.02x
Wiltshire 1 0.02x

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 330 Orrs recorded in 1881 and an index of 8.19x.

Place Total Index
Barony 330 8.19x
Govan 316 8.03x
Glasgow 179 6.33x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 162 6.11x
West Greenock 97 14.17x
Kilmarnock 89 20.30x
Kilbirnie 80 90.44x
Abbey 76 13.06x
East Greenock 76 21.10x
Paisley High Church 74 24.37x
Dalry 72 41.53x
Shotts 69 36.22x
New Monkland 63 13.39x
Hamilton 56 12.61x
Riccarton 51 91.78x
Carnwath 49 49.78x
Avondale 48 51.57x
Liverpool 46 1.30x
Beith 44 40.03x
Neilston 44 22.98x
Lesmahagow 43 25.54x
Lochwinnoch 43 75.64x
Stewarton 42 57.62x
Dalmellington 41 37.85x
Everton 38 2.04x
South Leith 36 4.85x
Rutherglen 34 14.56x
Lambeth 32 0.75x
Largs 32 36.87x
Paisley Middle Church 31 13.96x
Carluke 30 20.75x
Dundee 30 1.76x
North Leith 30 9.83x
Dundonald 29 21.35x
Paisley Low Church 29 24.01x
Kilbarchan 28 24.17x
East Kilbride 27 39.61x
Bothwell 26 6.02x
Old Monkland 26 4.12x
West Derby 26 1.52x
Maryhill 24 7.70x
Corstorphine 23 63.22x
Drymen 22 90.35x
Kilmaronock 22 140.40x
Auckinleck 21 18.41x
Dysart 21 10.70x
Irvine 21 20.52x
Kirkdale 21 2.14x
Toxteth Park 21 1.06x
West Calder 21 16.16x
Cambuslang 20 12.46x
Dreghorn 20 29.99x
Loudoun 20 22.58x
Row 20 11.69x
Dalziel 19 11.09x
Dumbarton 19 10.32x
Hawick 19 9.52x
Kilmaurs 19 30.31x
Clitheroe 18 10.47x
Liff Benvie 18 2.60x
Stevenston 18 18.75x
Girvan 17 18.38x
New Kilpatrick 17 13.51x
Selkirk 17 13.55x
Whitehaven 17 7.53x
Cumbernauld 16 22.07x
Galston 16 15.88x
Islington London 16 0.34x
Kidderminster Borough 16 4.25x
Kildalton 16 44.22x
Manchester 16 0.61x
Old Kilpatrick 16 10.24x
Westoe 16 1.93x
Cambusnethan 15 4.24x
Cathcart 15 7.27x
Kensington London 15 0.55x
Farnworth 14 4.00x
Harrington 14 27.37x
Newton On Ayr 14 12.69x
Riccarton Hurlford 14 21.67x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 81
Elizabeth 43
Margaret 42
Jane 37
Sarah 29
Ellen 23
Ann 21
Agnes 15
Alice 15
Annie 15
Isabella 15
Janet 11
Emily 9
Hannah 9
Jessie 9
Martha 9
Ada 7
Eleanor 7
Eliza 7
Emma 7
Catherine 6
Harriet 6
Matilda 6
Barbara 5
Bridget 5
Edith 5
Elizth. 5
Fanny 5
Florence 5
Lucy 5
Susan 5
Anne 4
Charlotte 4
Clara 4
Grace 4
Dora 3
Helen 3
Laura 3
Louisa 3
Margt. 3
Maria 3
Marion 3
Minnie 3
Rose 3
Susannah 3
Anna 2
Annabella 2
Claudine 2
Deborah 2
Marian 2

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 96
John 92
James 70
Thomas 39
Robert 34
David 22
Alexander 18
Charles 16
Henry 15
George 14
Joseph 13
Andrew 10
Frederick 10
Peter 10
Hugh 8
Samuel 8
Richard 7
Herbert 6
Alfred 5
Ernest 5
Daniel 4
Thos. 4
Anthony 3
Arthur 3
Christopher 3
Edward 3
Francis 3
Frank 3
Walter 3
Adam 2
Elijah 2
Matthew 2
Norman 2
Patrick 2
Robt. 2
Rowland 2
Spencer 2
Wm. 2
Alexandria 1
Alexscander 1
Angus 1
Archibald 1
Earnest 1
Edmund 1
Edwin 1
Ellen 1
Jane 1
Jas. 1
Jas.A. 1
Wrigley 1

FAQ

Orr surname: questions and answers

How common was the Orr surname in 1881?

In 1881, 1,213 people were recorded with the Orr surname. That placed it at #3,333 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Orr surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 7,972 in 2016. That gives Orr a modern rank of #830.

What does the Orr surname mean?

A toponymic surname derived from the Old Norse word for "arrow" or referring to someone who lived on a shoreline.

What does the Orr map show?

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