NameCensus.

UK surname

Page

An occupational surname referring to a young servant or messenger in a royal household or aristocratic court.

In the 1881 census there were 23,921 people recorded with the Page surname, ranking it #140 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 30,691, ranked #177, down from #140 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, St Pancras and Lambeth. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Mid Suffolk, Adur and Winchester.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Page is 32,803 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 28.3%.

1881 census count

23,921

Ranked #140

Modern count

30,691

2016, ranked #177

Peak year

1999

32,803 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Page had 23,921 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #140 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 30,691 in 2016, ranked #177.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 31,499 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Page surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Page surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Page 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 15,922 #135
1861 historical 16,451 #129
1881 historical 23,921 #140
1891 historical 25,700 #134
1901 historical 29,262 #138
1911 historical 31,499 #114
1997 modern 31,820 #155
1998 modern 32,692 #160
1999 modern 32,803 #161
2000 modern 32,510 #161
2001 modern 31,560 #163
2002 modern 32,197 #165
2003 modern 31,235 #168
2004 modern 31,178 #168
2005 modern 30,441 #169
2006 modern 30,283 #172
2007 modern 30,414 #174
2008 modern 30,417 #174
2009 modern 31,128 #174
2010 modern 31,718 #175
2011 modern 31,195 #175
2012 modern 30,475 #176
2013 modern 31,021 #177
2014 modern 31,250 #177
2015 modern 30,855 #177
2016 modern 30,691 #177

Geography

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Where Pages are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, St Pancras, Lambeth and St Mary Islington. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Mid Suffolk, Adur, Winchester, East Hertfordshire and Ipswich. 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 1
2 London parishes London 3
3 St Pancras London (North Districts)
4 Lambeth London (South Districts)
5 St Mary Islington London (North Districts)

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Mid Suffolk 007 Mid Suffolk
2 Adur 004 Adur
3 Winchester 004 Winchester
4 East Hertfordshire 012 East Hertfordshire
5 Ipswich 010 Ipswich

Forenames

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First names often paired with Page

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Page

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

Page is most concentrated in decile 5 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.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Page falls in decile 6 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.

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Page

The surname PAGE originated in England in the medieval period, deriving from the Old French word 'page' meaning a young male attendant or servant. It emerged as an occupational surname for those who worked as pages or servants in noble households or royal courts.

The earliest recorded examples of the surname PAGE can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1273, where it was spelled as 'Page'. Other early spellings included 'Pagge' and 'Payge'. The name is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, listed as 'Pages' and 'Paganus'.

During the Middle Ages, the surname PAGE was most prevalent in the southern counties of England, particularly in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. It was also found in areas near royal residences, such as Windsor and Eton, where many pages were employed.

Notable historical figures with the surname PAGE include John Page, an English Protestant martyr who was burned at the stake in 1556 during the Marian Persecutions. Another early bearer of the name was Thomas Page (c. 1170-1237), an English judge and Lord Chief Justice of England from 1233 to 1237.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname PAGE was associated with several prominent families in England. Sir William Page (c. 1590-1663) was a wealthy merchant and Lord Mayor of London in 1647. Thomas Page (1585-1647) was an English clergyman and member of the Westminster Assembly, which produced the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The surname PAGE was also found in early American colonial records. One of the earliest bearers of the name was John Page (1627-1692), a wealthy planter and merchant who settled in Virginia in the mid-17th century. His descendants included several notable figures, such as John Page (1743-1808), a politician and Governor of Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson Page (1808-1899), a Confederate officer during the American Civil War.

Other famous individuals with the surname PAGE include Walter Hines Page (1855-1918), an American diplomat and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I, and Gertrude Page (1872-1922), an English actress and producer known for her work in Edwardian musical comedies.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Page families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Page 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 4,119 Pages recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.76x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 4,119 1.76x
Surrey 2,024 1.78x
Kent 1,592 2.00x
Sussex 1,273 3.23x
Essex 1,109 2.41x
Norfolk 1,030 2.87x
Suffolk 1,008 3.54x
Yorkshire 945 0.41x
Lancashire 906 0.33x
Staffordshire 883 1.12x
Warwickshire 782 1.33x
Hampshire 721 1.51x
Northamptonshire 562 2.56x
Gloucestershire 451 0.98x
Hertfordshire 442 2.75x
Worcestershire 435 1.43x
Leicestershire 409 1.58x
Bedfordshire 403 3.33x
Devon 399 0.82x
Fife 389 2.81x
Lincolnshire 311 0.83x
Derbyshire 307 0.84x
Buckinghamshire 299 2.12x
Nottinghamshire 296 0.94x
Oxfordshire 269 1.87x
Durham 229 0.33x
Wiltshire 225 1.09x
Shropshire 205 1.02x
Berkshire 195 1.11x
Cambridgeshire 193 1.30x
Somerset 189 0.50x
Cheshire 146 0.28x
Glamorgan 136 0.33x
Huntingdonshire 116 2.50x
Midlothian 99 0.32x
Pembrokeshire 87 1.17x
Lanarkshire 86 0.11x
Herefordshire 83 0.87x
Northumberland 81 0.23x
Angus 69 0.32x
Dorset 51 0.33x
Perthshire 43 0.41x
Monmouthshire 42 0.25x
Stirlingshire 36 0.42x
Kinross-shire 27 4.57x
Rutland 25 1.46x
Westmorland 25 0.49x
Royal Navy 23 0.83x
Cornwall 17 0.06x
Dunbartonshire 15 0.24x
Cumberland 14 0.07x
Brecknockshire 11 0.24x
Carmarthenshire 10 0.10x
Merionethshire 10 0.23x
Caernarfonshire 9 0.10x
Clackmannanshire 9 0.47x
Roxburghshire 9 0.21x
Buteshire 8 0.57x
Channel Islands 8 0.12x
Wigtownshire 6 0.19x
Aberdeenshire 5 0.02x
Argyllshire 5 0.08x
Renfrewshire 5 0.03x
Denbighshire 4 0.05x
Isle of Man 4 0.09x
Radnorshire 4 0.21x
Ayrshire 2 0.01x
Peeblesshire 2 0.18x
West Lothian 2 0.06x
Anglesey 1 0.02x
Berwickshire 1 0.04x
Cardiganshire 1 0.02x
East Lothian 1 0.03x
Montgomeryshire 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. Islington London in Middlesex leads with 459 Pages recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.03x.

Place Total Index
Islington London 459 2.03x
St Pancras London 301 1.60x
Lambeth 281 1.38x
Hackney London 274 2.09x
Camberwell 261 1.75x
Birmingham 257 1.31x
Brighton 234 2.95x
West Ham 216 2.12x
Bethnal Green London 214 2.11x
St Marylebone London 194 1.56x
Aston 175 1.08x
Kensington London 171 1.32x
Mile End Old Town 171 4.64x
Battersea 169 1.97x
Croydon 168 2.66x
Bromley London 156 3.04x
Bermondsey 155 2.23x
Shoreditch London 148 1.46x
Newington 147 1.70x
Paddington London 146 1.70x
Cheltenham 145 4.10x
Great Yarmouth 142 4.77x
Hammersmith London 135 2.35x
Portsea 127 1.35x
Leicester St Margaret 119 1.88x
Chelsea London 108 1.53x
Darlaston 97 8.90x
Deptford St Paul 97 1.58x
Heigham 94 4.88x
Wolverhampton 94 1.55x
Nottingham St Mary 90 1.11x
Limehouse London 85 3.32x
Poplar London 84 1.91x
Ware 83 17.99x
Greenwich 82 2.21x
Southwark St George Martyr 79 1.68x
St George Hanover 78 2.56x
Wednesbury 78 3.96x
Kingston On Thames 77 2.82x
Hornsey 76 2.57x
St Luke London 75 2.00x
Hampstead London 74 2.03x
Lewisham 73 1.72x
Clerkenwell London 70 1.27x
Acton 69 5.04x
Eastbourne 69 3.81x
Folkestone 68 4.40x
Plumstead 65 2.45x
Abbotshall 64 12.39x
Ramsgate 64 4.92x
Leicester St Mary 63 3.01x
Desborough 61 36.97x
Burton Upon Trent 60 3.25x
Tottenham 60 1.61x
Dysart 59 6.34x
Holy Trinity 59 1.06x
Fulham London 54 1.59x
Hastings All Sts 53 14.28x
Manchester 53 0.43x
Walsall Foreign 53 1.30x
Kirkcaldy 52 7.58x
Leeds 52 89.47x
Ipswich St Mathew 50 6.27x
West Bromwich 50 1.11x
Kidderminster Borough 49 2.75x
Swindon 49 3.06x
Dundee 46 0.57x
Liverpool 46 0.27x
West Derby 46 0.57x
Tonbridge 45 1.57x
Haverhill 44 17.41x
Maidstone 44 1.85x
Wycombe 44 4.18x
Northampton Priory St 43 3.26x
Ealing 42 2.01x
Stoke Newington London 42 2.31x
Toxteth Park 42 0.45x
Westminster St John 42 1.48x
Faversham 41 5.40x
Leeds 41 0.31x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 1,331
Sarah 846
Elizabeth 842
Emma 412
Ann 411
Eliza 410
Ellen 396
Alice 383
Jane 366
Emily 331
Annie 328
Hannah 209
Charlotte 196
Harriet 182
Fanny 180
Edith 179
Louisa 170
Caroline 167
Florence 165
Martha 162
Maria 153
Kate 149
Ada 131
Margaret 128
Clara 112
Harriett 111
Susan 103
Lucy 96
Frances 94
Anne 89
Agnes 88
Catherine 86
Rose 71
Sophia 71
Esther 70
Matilda 67
Rebecca 62
Amelia 59
Gertrude 56
Amy 55
Ethel 51
Lydia 51
Ruth 51
Eleanor 50
Minnie 48
Elizth. 46
Susannah 44
Isabella 43
Julia 42
Rosa 40

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 1,446
John 1,107
George 904
Thomas 696
James 693
Charles 602
Henry 562
Alfred 353
Robert 298
Frederick 297
Edward 294
Joseph 285
Arthur 277
Samuel 228
Walter 193
Richard 171
Albert 159
Harry 158
Frank 111
Ernest 105
Herbert 102
David 78
Edwin 76
Wm. 59
Francis 53
Benjamin 49
Fred 47
Stephen 36
Isaac 34
Peter 34
Thos. 33
Daniel 29
Fredk. 28
Geo. 26
Tom 26
Jesse 25
Chas. 24
Edmund 24
Sidney 23
Abraham 22
Lewis 22
Fredrick 20
Horace 20
Philip 20
Elijah 18
Percy 18
Joshua 17
Ralph 17
Edgar 16
Frederic 15

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Page households.

FAQ

Page surname: questions and answers

How common was the Page surname in 1881?

In 1881, 23,921 people were recorded with the Page surname. That placed it at #140 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Page surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 30,691 in 2016. That gives Page a modern rank of #177.

What does the Page surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to a young servant or messenger in a royal household or aristocratic court.

What does the Page map show?

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