NameCensus.

UK surname

Pywell

In the 1881 census there were 368 people recorded with the Pywell surname, ranking it #8,454 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 449, ranked #10,816, down from #8,454 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Oundle, Alwalton and Peterborough St John the Baptist. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Bassetlaw, Kettering and Harrogate.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Pywell is 531 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 22.0%.

1881 census count

368

Ranked #8,454

Modern count

449

2016, ranked #10,816

Peak year

1911

531 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Pywell had 368 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #8,454 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 449 in 2016, ranked #10,816.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 531 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Pywell surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Pywell surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Pywell 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 346 #6,798
1861 historical 286 #8,793
1881 historical 368 #8,454
1891 historical 425 #8,429
1901 historical 490 #8,171
1911 historical 531 #7,492
1997 modern 507 #9,204
1998 modern 518 #9,342
1999 modern 505 #9,587
2000 modern 497 #9,675
2001 modern 477 #9,798
2002 modern 479 #9,954
2003 modern 456 #10,179
2004 modern 471 #9,942
2005 modern 479 #9,737
2006 modern 470 #9,924
2007 modern 461 #10,153
2008 modern 460 #10,250
2009 modern 459 #10,502
2010 modern 474 #10,461
2011 modern 462 #10,570
2012 modern 470 #10,332
2013 modern 468 #10,516
2014 modern 457 #10,767
2015 modern 457 #10,695
2016 modern 449 #10,816

Geography

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Where Pywells are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Oundle, Alwalton, Peterborough St John the Baptist, Castor and Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Bassetlaw, Kettering, Harrogate and Leicester. 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 Oundle Northamptonshire
2 Alwalton Northamptonshire
3 Peterborough St John the Baptist Northamptonshire
4 Castor Northamptonshire
5 Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars Leicestershire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Bassetlaw 009 Bassetlaw
2 Bassetlaw 012 Bassetlaw
3 Kettering 009 Kettering
4 Harrogate 019 Harrogate
5 Leicester 003 Leicester

Forenames

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First names often paired with Pywell

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Pywell

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

Pywell is most concentrated in decile 8 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.

8
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

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

1881 census detail

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Pywell families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Pywell 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. Northamptonshire leads with 92 Pywells recorded in 1881 and an index of 27.10x.

County Total Index
Northamptonshire 92 27.10x
Leicestershire 90 22.49x
Huntingdonshire 39 54.42x
Surrey 22 1.25x
Yorkshire 21 0.59x
Lancashire 17 0.40x
Warwickshire 15 1.65x
Cambridgeshire 14 6.12x
Nottinghamshire 13 2.67x
Norfolk 12 2.16x
Lincolnshire 11 1.91x
Derbyshire 9 1.59x
Middlesex 6 0.17x
Cheshire 3 0.38x
Kent 2 0.16x
Royal Navy 1 2.33x
Staffordshire 1 0.08x
Wiltshire 1 0.31x
Worcestershire 1 0.21x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Leicester St Margaret in Leicestershire leads with 33 Pywells recorded in 1881 and an index of 33.82x.

Place Total Index
Leicester St Margaret 33 33.82x
Castor 20 1388.89x
Grafton Underwood 17 5000.00x
Alwalton 16 4102.56x
Benefield 15 2586.21x
Great Glenn 14 1320.75x
Leicester St Mary 11 34.02x
Buckden 8 620.16x
Croydon 8 8.20x
Fletton 8 349.35x
Kersall 8 6153.85x
Melton Mowbray 8 111.27x
Wardleworth 8 32.69x
Duston 7 227.27x
Lambeth 7 2.22x
Leeds 7 3.47x
Leicester All Sts 7 89.06x
Whittlesey St Mary St 7 87.72x
Coventry St Michael 6 20.52x
Great Yarmouth 6 13.05x
Little Weldon 6 1071.43x
Peterborough 6 24.41x
Stamford All Sts 6 185.76x
Walsoken 6 179.64x
Birmingham 5 1.65x
Camberwell 5 2.17x
Farnley In Bramley 5 112.11x
Great Weldon 5 1351.35x
Horsforth 5 63.78x
Smeeton 5 1041.67x
Stibbington 5 746.27x
Thorney 5 196.85x
Deeping St Nicholas 4 236.69x
Oundle 4 105.26x
Toxteth Park 4 2.76x
Derby St Peter 3 16.67x
Derby St Werburgh 3 9.19x
Stockport 3 7.32x
Twyford 3 566.04x
Derby St Alkmund 2 11.81x
Falsgrave 2 37.95x
Higham Ferrers 2 108.70x
Hucknall Torkard 2 16.21x
Leicester St Martin 2 74.35x
Manchester 2 1.04x
Northampton St Peter 2 97.09x
Oldham 2 1.45x
Radford 2 8.09x
Rockingham 2 714.29x
South Croxton 2 645.16x
St George Hanover 2 4.25x
Sutton Coldfield 2 20.90x
Westerham 2 70.42x
Westminster St John 2 4.55x
Aldwinkle St Peter 1 400.00x
Aston 1 0.40x
Barton Seagrave 1 357.14x
Battersea 1 0.75x
Belgrave 1 11.07x
Bowood 1 909.09x
Brigstock 1 77.52x
Chesterton 1 14.18x
Cottingham 1 85.47x
Deeping St James 1 49.02x
Folksworth 1 400.00x
Hammersmith London 1 1.12x
Headingley Cum Burley 1 4.34x
Houghton On The Hill 1 196.08x
Islington London 1 0.29x
Kilby 1 277.78x
Litherland 1 11.17x
Little Bowden 1 84.03x
Loughborough 1 5.51x
Nottingham St Mary 1 0.79x
Royal Navy 1 2.72x
Rugby 1 8.12x
St Andrewthe Less 1 3.83x
Tilton 1 322.58x
Wolverhampton 1 1.07x
Worcester St Nicholas 1 44.84x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 31
Elizabeth 19
Sarah 16
Ann 11
Annie 8
Eliza 8
Jane 8
Alice 7
Emma 6
Martha 6
Charlotte 5
Florence 5
Louisa 5
Lucy 5
Susan 5
Catherine 3
Edith 3
Ellen 3
Emily 3
Fanny 3
Maria 3
Ruth 3
Ada 2
Agnes 2
Caroline 2
Grace 2
Hannah 2
Harriet 2
Kate 2
Abigail 1
Alexandra 1
Bertha 1
Clara 1
Eleanor 1
Fannie 1
Gertrude 1
Isabella 1
Joanna 1
Julia 1
Mabel 1
Marian 1
Maud 1
Milicent 1
Nancy 1
Nelly 1
Rebecca 1
Rose 1
Rudkin 1
Susanna 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 23
William 19
George 13
Joseph 11
James 10
Thomas 9
Henry 7
Samuel 7
Charles 6
Robert 6
Arthur 5
Alfred 3
Edward 3
Herbert 3
Edwin 2
Francis 2
Frank 2
Frederick 2
Harry 2
Lewis 2
Richard 2
Tom 2
Walter 2
Abraham 1
Albert 1
Augustus 1
Benjamin 1
Bryan 1
Daniel 1
David 1
Edmund 1
Fras.H. 1
Fred.K. 1
Geo. 1
Geo.Jos. 1
H.J. 1
Harold 1
Hernest 1
Isaac 1
Jos. 1
Josiah 1
Margaret 1
Martin 1
Mathew 1
Pecy 1
Percival 1
Rufus 1
Willie 1
Wm.Hodgson 1

FAQ

Pywell surname: questions and answers

How common was the Pywell surname in 1881?

In 1881, 368 people were recorded with the Pywell surname. That placed it at #8,454 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Pywell surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 449 in 2016. That gives Pywell a modern rank of #10,816.

What does the Pywell map show?

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