NameCensus.

UK surname

Powney

In the 1881 census there were 453 people recorded with the Powney surname, ranking it #7,289 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 917, ranked #6,223, up from #7,289 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Bromham, Chittoe (Bishops Canning). In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Bath and North East Somerset, Lewes and Sunderland.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Powney is 988 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 102.4%.

1881 census count

453

Ranked #7,289

Modern count

917

2016, ranked #6,223

Peak year

1999

988 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Powney had 453 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #7,289 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 917 in 2016, ranked #6,223.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 818 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Powney surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Powney surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Powney 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 339 #6,922
1861 historical 327 #7,788
1881 historical 453 #7,289
1891 historical 589 #6,485
1901 historical 696 #6,314
1911 historical 818 #5,384
1997 modern 913 #5,910
1998 modern 964 #5,846
1999 modern 988 #5,767
2000 modern 979 #5,796
2001 modern 954 #5,798
2002 modern 965 #5,842
2003 modern 964 #5,771
2004 modern 952 #5,835
2005 modern 930 #5,880
2006 modern 927 #5,900
2007 modern 923 #5,971
2008 modern 908 #6,092
2009 modern 940 #6,045
2010 modern 957 #6,089
2011 modern 956 #6,047
2012 modern 933 #6,078
2013 modern 937 #6,161
2014 modern 935 #6,204
2015 modern 924 #6,203
2016 modern 917 #6,223

Geography

Back to top

Where Powneys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes, Bromham, Chittoe (Bishops Canning) and Coventry Holy Trinity (incl. Radford), Coventry St Michael, Wyken. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Bath and North East Somerset, Lewes, Sunderland and Liverpool. 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 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Bromham, Chittoe (Bishops Canning) Wiltshire
5 Coventry Holy Trinity (incl. Radford), Coventry St Michael, Wyken Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Bath and North East Somerset 027 Bath and North East Somerset
2 Lewes 011 Lewes
3 Sunderland 033 Sunderland
4 Liverpool 057 Liverpool
5 Sunderland 035 Sunderland

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Powney

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Powney

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

Powney is most concentrated in decile 3 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.

3
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Powney falls in decile 4 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.

4
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

Back to top

Powney families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Powney 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. Wiltshire leads with 81 Powneys recorded in 1881 and an index of 20.73x.

County Total Index
Wiltshire 81 20.73x
Staffordshire 46 3.08x
Middlesex 45 1.02x
Durham 35 2.66x
Somerset 29 4.08x
Surrey 29 1.35x
Warwickshire 29 2.60x
Yorkshire 25 0.57x
Lancashire 17 0.32x
Glamorgan 15 1.95x
Huntingdonshire 15 17.10x
Hampshire 13 1.44x
Berkshire 12 3.62x
Monmouthshire 10 3.13x
Buckinghamshire 9 3.37x
Gloucestershire 9 1.04x
Derbyshire 7 1.01x
Lincolnshire 5 0.71x
Worcestershire 5 0.87x
Essex 4 0.46x
Leicestershire 3 0.61x
Sussex 3 0.40x
Herefordshire 2 1.10x
Oxfordshire 2 0.73x
Cheshire 1 0.10x
Hertfordshire 1 0.33x
Royal Navy 1 1.90x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Bromham in Wiltshire leads with 34 Powneys recorded in 1881 and an index of 1931.82x.

Place Total Index
Bromham 34 1931.82x
Wombourn 19 685.92x
Islington London 18 4.20x
Cannock 14 53.78x
Great Lumley 14 622.22x
Leeds 14 5.66x
Birmingham 11 2.96x
Crossgate 11 191.30x
Weston 10 182.82x
Coventry St Michael 9 25.14x
Laycock 9 508.47x
St Faith Winchester 9 213.27x
Wraysbury 9 900.00x
Alconbury 8 769.23x
Lindley Cum Quarmby 8 72.40x
Llanover 8 73.33x
St Pancras London 8 2.25x
Walcot 8 21.12x
Wolverhampton 8 6.98x
Bishop Auckland 7 39.68x
Derby St Werburgh 7 17.52x
Fen Stanton 7 432.10x
Aberavon 6 84.75x
Blackburn 6 4.30x
Calne 6 74.53x
Chittoe 6 2000.00x
Clapham 6 10.86x
Llanrhidian Higher 6 122.70x
Salisbury St Thomas 6 193.55x
Trowbridge 6 34.74x
Warrington 6 9.65x
Bedminster 5 7.48x
Coventry Holy Trinity 5 15.03x
Great Grimsby 5 11.15x
Kensington London 5 2.04x
Southwark St George Martyr 5 5.62x
Upper Penn 5 133.69x
Warfield 5 166.11x
Aston 4 1.30x
Bremhill 4 227.27x
Chippenham 4 48.78x
Grays Inn Staple Inn 4 701.75x
Horsell 4 294.12x
Lambeth 4 1.04x
Reigate Foreign 4 17.16x
West Ham 4 2.08x
Yeovil 4 27.68x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 3 3.68x
Camberwell 3 1.06x
Cwmdu 3 32.02x
Hackney London 3 1.21x
Hugglescote 3 41.61x
Kings Norton 3 5.80x
Litherland 3 27.37x
Newbottle 3 41.78x
Aberystruth 2 7.10x
Binfield 2 78.43x
Bradford On Avon 2 15.99x
Bristol St Augustine 2 14.30x
Clifford Cum Boston 2 50.76x
Corsham 2 35.09x
Harpsden 2 540.54x
Hastings Holy Trinity 2 36.43x
Holybourne 2 224.72x
Liverpool 2 0.63x
Newington 2 1.23x
Wokingham 2 26.42x
Bath St James 1 13.48x
Bath St Peter St Paul 1 31.85x
Bradford 1 0.94x
Cookham 1 9.67x
Dudley 1 1.43x
Hillmarton 1 103.09x
Sawbridgeworth 1 21.69x
Shanklin 1 37.04x
St George Hanover 1 1.73x
Waltham St Lawrence 1 76.92x
Whitbourne 1 88.50x
Winkfield 1 18.18x
Yate 1 52.63x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 23
Sarah 22
Elizabeth 16
Ann 10
Annie 9
Ellen 9
Charlotte 6
Eliza 6
Emily 6
Jane 6
Margaret 6
Alice 5
Ada 4
Clara 4
Edith 4
Emma 4
Florence 4
Gertrude 4
Catherine 3
Kate 3
Martha 3
Amelia 2
Beatrice 2
Betsy 2
Elizth. 2
Evelyn 2
Fanny 2
Harriet 2
Julia 2
Lizzie 2
Louisa 2
Maria 2
Matilda 2
Rose 2
Sophia 2
Angela 1
Blanche 1
Bridget 1
Caloline 1
Eleanor 1
Elenor 1
Esther 1
Eva 1
Hannah 1
Helen 1
Jessie 1
Leah 1
Lilian 1
Lottie 1
Tryphina 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 37
John 26
George 21
James 19
Henry 15
Thomas 11
Albert 10
Edward 9
Frank 9
Charles 8
Arthur 6
Joseph 6
Edwin 4
Frederick 4
Walter 4
Herbert 3
Samuel 3
Ernest 2
Harry 2
Jacob 2
Joshua 2
Ralph 2
Wm.Jas. 2
Alfred 1
Benjamin 1
David 1
Decimus 1
Edmund 1
Edwd. 1
Edwd.Wm. 1
Fred 1
Fredk. 1
Hugh 1
Hy. 1
Jno. 1
Mark 1
Richard 1
Richd. 1
Richd.E. 1
Robert 1
Stephen 1
Sydney 1
Tom 1
Wilfred 1
Willie 1
Willm.Frederick 1
Wm.E.F. 1

FAQ

Powney surname: questions and answers

How common was the Powney surname in 1881?

In 1881, 453 people were recorded with the Powney surname. That placed it at #7,289 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Powney surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 917 in 2016. That gives Powney a modern rank of #6,223.

What does the Powney map show?

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