NameCensus.

UK surname

Oxford

Locative surname denoting someone from the city of Oxford, England, derived from "ox" and "ford" meaning a ford for oxen.

In the 1881 census there were 1,031 people recorded with the Oxford surname, ranking it #3,808 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 1,037, ranked #5,621, down from #3,808 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, St Pancras and Layham, Shelley. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Babergh, Blackpool and North Warwickshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Oxford is 1,537 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 0.6%.

1881 census count

1,031

Ranked #3,808

Modern count

1,037

2016, ranked #5,621

Peak year

1911

1,537 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Oxford had 1,031 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #3,808 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 1,037 in 2016, ranked #5,621.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 1,537 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Oxford surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Oxford surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Oxford 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 799 #3,345
1861 historical 1,084 #2,591
1881 historical 1,031 #3,808
1891 historical 1,292 #3,349
1901 historical 1,189 #4,129
1911 historical 1,537 #3,157
1997 modern 1,083 #5,142
1998 modern 1,144 #5,087
1999 modern 1,160 #5,067
2000 modern 1,121 #5,191
2001 modern 1,112 #5,121
2002 modern 1,102 #5,263
2003 modern 1,049 #5,381
2004 modern 1,039 #5,437
2005 modern 1,026 #5,434
2006 modern 1,025 #5,450
2007 modern 1,026 #5,497
2008 modern 1,016 #5,578
2009 modern 1,066 #5,470
2010 modern 1,057 #5,619
2011 modern 1,054 #5,570
2012 modern 1,049 #5,502
2013 modern 1,064 #5,537
2014 modern 1,066 #5,561
2015 modern 1,050 #5,575
2016 modern 1,037 #5,621

Geography

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Where Oxfords are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, St Pancras, Layham, Shelley, Sturminster Marshall 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 Babergh, Blackpool, North Warwickshire, Bolton and East Dorset. 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 London parishes London 3
2 St Pancras London (North Districts)
3 Layham, Shelley Suffolk
4 Sturminster Marshall Dorset
5 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Babergh 004 Babergh
2 Blackpool 006 Blackpool
3 North Warwickshire 003 North Warwickshire
4 Bolton 010 Bolton
5 East Dorset 005 East Dorset

Forenames

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First names often paired with Oxford

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Oxford

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

Social Rented Sector Families with Children

Group

Social Rented Sector Pockets

Within London, Oxford is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Pockets, part of Social Rented Sector Families with Children. 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

Found in pockets across London, residents are less likely to live in private sector rentals and fewer adults are students. Fewer individuals work in transport and communications occupations relative to the Supergroup average. More individuals identify as Black and were born in Africa.

Wider London pattern

Residents of these neighbourhoods include sizable numbers identifying with ethnicities originating outside Europe, particularly in Africa or Bangladesh. The proportion of residents identifying as White, Indian or Pakistani is well below the London average. Neighbourhood age profiles are skewed towards younger adults, and above average numbers of families have children. Rates of use of English at home are below average. Marriage rates are low, and levels of separation or divorce are above average. Housing is predominantly in flats, and renting in the social rented sector the norm - few residents are owner occupiers. Housing is often overcrowded, and neighbourhoods are amongst the most densely populated in London. Disability rates are above average, although levels of unpaid care provision are about average. Employment is in caring, leisure, other service occupations, sales and customer service, or process, plant, and machine operation. Part time working and full-time student study are common. Levels of unemployment are slightly above average. Most residents have only Level 1 or 2 educational qualifications or have completed apprenticeships.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Oxford is most concentrated in decile 4 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.

4
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Oxford falls in decile 7 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Oxford

The surname Oxford originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. It is a locational name derived from the city of Oxford, whose name comes from the Old English words "oxen" and "ford," referring to an oxen crossing point over the River Thames. The earliest recorded spelling of the place name was Oxeneford in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 912 AD.

Oxford is one of the few English place names mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land and landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests the surname Oxford was already in use by the late 11th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Oxford surname is found in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1202, which mention a Richard de Oxenford. Another early example is Robert de Oxford, who was listed as a resident of Oxfordshire in the Hundred Rolls of 1273.

During the Middle Ages, the Oxford surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, reflecting its origins from the city of Oxford. Notable bearers of the name include John de Oxford, a 13th-century canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and Roger de Oxford, a 14th-century Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire.

In the 16th century, Sir Walter Oxford (1501-1552) was a prominent courtier and diplomat during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Another notable figure was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), an English Renaissance courtier, playwright, and poet who is sometimes proposed as the real author behind the works attributed to William Shakespeare.

Other prominent individuals with the Oxford surname include Robert Oxford (1568-1616), an English Jesuit priest and martyr executed during the Protestant Reformation, and John Oxford (1637-1709), an English Presbyterian minister and tutor.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Oxford families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Oxford 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. Middlesex leads with 171 Oxfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.69x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 171 1.69x
Hampshire 134 6.48x
Dorset 103 15.54x
Surrey 87 1.77x
Warwickshire 74 2.91x
Kent 69 2.00x
Lancashire 67 0.56x
Suffolk 62 5.04x
Yorkshire 36 0.36x
Staffordshire 34 1.00x
Devon 24 1.14x
Gloucestershire 18 0.91x
Somerset 18 1.11x
Wiltshire 17 1.90x
Leicestershire 16 1.43x
Cheshire 14 0.63x
Nottinghamshire 14 1.03x
Cumberland 10 1.15x
Worcestershire 10 0.76x
Bedfordshire 8 1.53x
Channel Islands 6 2.01x
Cornwall 6 0.52x
Berkshire 4 0.53x
Durham 4 0.13x
Essex 4 0.20x
Sussex 4 0.24x
Lincolnshire 3 0.19x
Oxfordshire 3 0.48x
Midlothian 2 0.15x
Northamptonshire 2 0.21x
Royal Navy 2 1.66x
Angus 1 0.11x
Brecknockshire 1 0.50x
Denbighshire 1 0.26x
Derbyshire 1 0.06x
Flintshire 1 0.37x
Glamorgan 1 0.06x
Hertfordshire 1 0.14x
Pembrokeshire 1 0.31x
Shropshire 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. Layham in Suffolk leads with 38 Oxfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 2043.01x.

Place Total Index
Layham 38 2043.01x
Birmingham 32 3.77x
Bermondsey 28 9.32x
Carisbrooke 24 83.54x
Paddington London 21 5.66x
St Pancras London 21 2.58x
Chelsea London 20 6.57x
Holdenhurst 20 36.85x
Rochester St Margaret 19 52.30x
Cranborne 17 212.23x
Twyford 17 343.43x
Greenwich 15 9.33x
Leonard Stanley 15 576.92x
Bulwell 14 47.31x
Manchester 14 2.60x
Bagworth 13 622.01x
Camberwell 13 2.02x
Aston 12 1.71x
Kensington London 12 2.14x
Winterborne Stickland 12 722.89x
Islington London 11 1.12x
Polesworth 11 90.98x
Dalston Buckabank 10 568.18x
Newington 10 2.68x
Salisbury St Martin 10 107.64x
Sturminster Marshall 10 361.01x
Tonbridge 10 8.05x
Toxteth Park 10 2.47x
Bromley London 9 4.05x
Burton Extra 9 46.06x
Christchurch 9 20.06x
Deptford St Paul 9 3.39x
Lambeth 9 1.02x
Poole St James 9 36.14x
St Anne Soho London 9 15.61x
Tollard Farnham 9 1406.25x
Walsall Foreign 9 5.11x
West Derby 9 2.57x
Wimborne Minster 9 83.96x
Coventry St Michael 8 9.78x
Leeds 8 1.42x
Polstead 8 278.75x
Portsea 8 1.97x
Salford 8 2.27x
Sandy 8 86.77x
South Stoneham 8 17.82x
St George Bloomsbury 8 13.81x
St Luke London 8 4.94x
Blandford Forum 7 53.56x
Ipswich St Mathew 7 20.31x
Stoke Damerel 7 4.76x
Atherstone 6 46.15x
Battersea 6 1.62x
Bow 6 212.77x
Great Bolton 6 3.78x
Keynsham 6 51.41x
Mile End Old Town 6 3.76x
Ormesby 6 22.31x
St Mary Extra 6 36.04x
Bedhampton 5 204.08x
Binegar 5 543.48x
Birkenhead 5 2.81x
Burton Upon Trent 5 6.27x
Darton 5 48.78x
Edgbaston 5 6.33x
Egham 5 16.56x
Harrietsham 5 212.77x
Liverpool 5 0.69x
Lytchett Matravers 5 209.21x
Sixpenny Handley 5 154.32x
St George Hanover 5 3.79x
St Martin In Fields 5 8.27x
Westminster St James 5 4.82x
Westminster St John 5 4.07x
Ardwick 4 3.70x
Enfield 4 6.04x
Huddersfield 4 2.74x
Pimperne 4 270.27x
St Helier 4 4.11x
Worcester All Sts 4 52.36x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 59
Elizabeth 41
Sarah 37
Eliza 30
Alice 29
Emily 27
Emma 24
Jane 24
Ellen 17
Ann 16
Harriet 14
Annie 13
Louisa 12
Charlotte 11
Martha 10
Florence 9
Edith 6
Harriett 6
Amelia 5
Amy 5
Kate 5
Margaret 5
Rose 5
Esther 4
Fanny 4
Frances 4
Hannah 4
Isabella 4
Ada 3
Caroline 3
Catherine 3
Clara 3
Lucy 3
Rebecca 3
Rosina 3
Susan 3
Beatrice 2
Christiana 2
Eleanor 2
Elizb. 2
Helen 2
Jessie 2
Matilda 2
Maud 2
Minnie 2
Nellie 2
Bella 1
Elizath. 1
Hetty 1
Vinnie 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 55
George 54
John 52
James 48
Charles 30
Henry 28
Joseph 23
Thomas 23
Arthur 19
Edward 15
Alfred 13
Frederick 12
Harry 12
Walter 9
Albert 8
Frank 5
Herbert 5
Samuel 5
Andrew 4
Ernest 4
Tom 4
Fredrick 3
Geo. 3
Richard 3
Seth 3
Wm. 3
Benjamin 2
Cecil 2
Chas. 2
Christopher 2
David 2
Edwin 2
Fred 2
Reuben 2
Robert 2
Sidney 2
Thos. 2
Timothy 2
Arnold 1
Esau 1
Frederic 1
Fredk. 1
Fredk.W. 1
Jonathon 1
Josep 1
Leith 1
Lewis 1
Lot 1
Malachi 1
Mark 1

FAQ

Oxford surname: questions and answers

How common was the Oxford surname in 1881?

In 1881, 1,031 people were recorded with the Oxford surname. That placed it at #3,808 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Oxford surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 1,037 in 2016. That gives Oxford a modern rank of #5,621.

What does the Oxford surname mean?

Locative surname denoting someone from the city of Oxford, England, derived from "ox" and "ford" meaning a ford for oxen.

What does the Oxford map show?

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