NameCensus.

UK surname

Penford

In the 1881 census there were 130 people recorded with the Penford surname, ranking it #16,911 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 153, ranked #23,408, down from #16,911 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Eling, London parishes and Bray, Maidenhead, Cookham. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Herefordshire, Mansfield and Forest Heath.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Penford is 251 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 17.7%.

1881 census count

130

Ranked #16,911

Modern count

153

2016, ranked #23,408

Peak year

1911

251 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Penford had 130 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #16,911 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 153 in 2016, ranked #23,408.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 251 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Penford surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Penford surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Penford 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 120 #15,144
1861 historical 176 #13,335
1881 historical 130 #16,911
1891 historical 225 #13,714
1901 historical 129 #19,735
1911 historical 251 #12,870
1997 modern 190 #18,199
1998 modern 204 #17,896
1999 modern 198 #18,343
2000 modern 188 #18,916
2001 modern 164 #20,279
2002 modern 163 #20,767
2003 modern 140 #22,634
2004 modern 152 #21,628
2005 modern 144 #22,367
2006 modern 141 #22,833
2007 modern 140 #23,231
2008 modern 141 #23,383
2009 modern 152 #22,716
2010 modern 166 #21,941
2011 modern 158 #22,473
2012 modern 150 #23,264
2013 modern 153 #23,314
2014 modern 153 #23,537
2015 modern 153 #23,413
2016 modern 153 #23,408

Geography

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Where Penfords are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Eling, London parishes, Bray, Maidenhead, Cookham and Brighton. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Herefordshire, Mansfield, Forest Heath and Sutton. 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 Eling Hampshire
2 London parishes London 3
3 Bray, Maidenhead, Cookham Berkshire
4 Brighton Sussex
5 London parishes London 2

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Herefordshire 007 Herefordshire, County of
2 Mansfield 013 Mansfield
3 Mansfield 010 Mansfield
4 Forest Heath 002 Forest Heath
5 Sutton 004 Sutton

Forenames

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First names often paired with Penford

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Penford

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Penford, 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

Retired Professionals

Group

Small Town Suburbia

Nationally, the Penford surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Small Town Suburbia, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Penford 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 is predominantly comprised of married couples with no resident dependent children, living in areas characterised neither by under-occupancy nor overcrowding throughout the UK in or adjacent to small towns. White ethnic groups and affiliation with Christianity predominates. Housing tends to be predominantly semi-detached or detached and workers are employed principally in managerial and professional occupations, with semi-skilled occupations also in evidence. These areas of the Supergroup are of higher population density.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Young Families and Mainstream Employment

Group

Terraced and Semi-Detached Suburbs

Within London, Penford is most associated with areas classed as Terraced and Semi-Detached Suburbs, part of Young Families and Mainstream Employment. 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 concentrated in suburban areas, these terraced and semi-detached developments are less overcrowded than the Supergroup average, and resident households are more likely to own two or more cars. There are fewer residents aged 25-44, and a larger share of residents employed in administrative and secretarial occupations. Residents are more likely to have been born in the UK, less likely to have been born in the EU or Africa, and much less likely to self-identify as Bangladeshi.

Wider London pattern

Many families in these neighbourhoods have young children. Housing is principally in the social rented sector, in terraced or semi-detached units. While over-all residential densities are low, overcrowding is also prevalent locally. Residents are drawn from a range of ethnic minorities, with many identifying as Black and above average numbers born in Africa. Numbers identifying as of Chinese, Indian or White ethnicity are below average. Levels of proficiency in English are below average. Levels of separation or divorce and incidence of disability are both above average. Education is typically limited to Level 1, 2, or apprenticeship qualifications. Few residents work in professional or managerial occupations but the employment structure is otherwise diverse: it includes skilled trades, caring, leisure and other service occupations, sales and customer service occupations, construction, and work as process, plant, and machine operatives.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Penford is most concentrated in decile 9 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the healthier 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.

9
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Penford falls in decile 9 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the less deprived end of the index.

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

9
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Penford is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 50-60 mbit/s.

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

8
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

1881 census detail

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Penford families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Penford 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. Berkshire leads with 32 Penfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 33.36x.

County Total Index
Berkshire 32 33.36x
Middlesex 29 2.27x
Hampshire 23 8.78x
Nottinghamshire 20 11.61x
Glamorgan 5 2.25x
Sussex 5 2.32x
Surrey 4 0.64x
Hertfordshire 2 2.27x
Kent 2 0.46x
Lancashire 2 0.13x
Yorkshire 2 0.16x
Argyllshire 1 2.81x
Cambridgeshire 1 1.24x
Dorset 1 1.19x
Warwickshire 1 0.31x
Wiltshire 1 0.88x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Mansfield in Nottinghamshire leads with 15 Penfords recorded in 1881 and an index of 251.68x.

Place Total Index
Mansfield 15 251.68x
Reading St Mary 15 195.31x
Bethnal Green London 8 14.41x
Clerkenwell London 8 26.53x
Havant 7 526.32x
Basford 5 62.97x
Bray 5 177.31x
Hursley 5 819.67x
Llangeinor 5 381.68x
Brighton 4 9.20x
Newbury 4 130.29x
Speen 4 254.78x
St Anne Soho London 4 54.79x
St George In East 4 46.03x
St Mary Extra 4 189.57x
Kingsclere 3 250.00x
Reigate Foreign 3 44.51x
Cookham 2 66.89x
Eling 2 75.47x
Hooton Roberts 2 2000.00x
Sawbridgeworth 2 150.38x
St Andrew Holborn 2 46.19x
St Giles In Fields 2 45.35x
Thatcham 2 135.14x
Bassingbourn 1 84.03x
Beddington 1 41.49x
Birmingham 1 0.93x
Chorlton Cum Hardy 1 99.01x
Damerham 1 370.37x
Dunoon 1 136.99x
Eltham 1 39.22x
Hastings All Sts 1 49.26x
Holdenhurst 1 14.56x
Hulme 1 3.16x
Portland 1 22.17x
St Pancras London 1 0.97x
Staplehurst 1 138.89x
Tadley 1 222.22x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 6
Harriett 5
Ann 4
Caroline 4
Edith 3
Elizabeth 3
Emily 3
Florence 3
Jane 3
Ada 2
Agnes 2
Annie 2
Clara 2
Eliza 2
Julia 2
Louisa 2
Adelaide 1
Alice 1
Amelia 1
Anne 1
Beatrice 1
Catherine 1
Dinnah 1
Ellen 1
Emma 1
Fanny 1
Frances 1
Hannah 1
Hariett 1
Harriet 1
Katherine 1
Kitty 1
Lydia 1
Martha 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
George 12
William 8
Henry 5
Walter 4
Edward 3
John 3
Richard 3
Thomas 3
Arthur 2
Frederick 2
James 2
Albert 1
Alfred 1
Ben 1
Benjamin 1
Charles 1
Daniel 1
David 1
Edwin 1
Ernest 1
Francis 1
Fredk.C.T. 1
Fredk.Wm. 1
Hubert 1
Jenkin 1
Leonard 1
Sidney 1
Willm.L. 1

FAQ

Penford surname: questions and answers

How common was the Penford surname in 1881?

In 1881, 130 people were recorded with the Penford surname. That placed it at #16,911 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Penford surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 153 in 2016. That gives Penford a modern rank of #23,408.

What does the Penford map show?

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