NameCensus.

UK surname

Ramsey

Derived from a place name meaning "island of wild garlic" in Old English, or "son of Rams" in Norse.

In the 1881 census there were 3,248 people recorded with the Ramsey surname, ranking it #1,389 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 5,088, ranked #1,333, up from #1,389 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside, London parishes and Gateshead. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include County Durham, Suffolk Coastal and Sunderland.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Ramsey is 5,226 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 56.7%.

1881 census count

3,248

Ranked #1,389

Modern count

5,088

2016, ranked #1,333

Peak year

2010

5,226 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Ramsey had 3,248 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,389 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 5,088 in 2016, ranked #1,333.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 3,739 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Ramsey surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Ramsey surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Ramsey 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 2,014 #1,441
1861 historical 2,017 #1,439
1881 historical 3,248 #1,389
1891 historical 3,381 #1,412
1901 historical 3,629 #1,544
1911 historical 3,739 #1,388
1997 modern 4,851 #1,352
1998 modern 4,969 #1,375
1999 modern 5,021 #1,369
2000 modern 4,969 #1,372
2001 modern 4,903 #1,359
2002 modern 4,983 #1,366
2003 modern 4,885 #1,351
2004 modern 4,879 #1,350
2005 modern 4,766 #1,369
2006 modern 4,813 #1,356
2007 modern 4,873 #1,354
2008 modern 4,885 #1,358
2009 modern 5,060 #1,348
2010 modern 5,226 #1,332
2011 modern 5,093 #1,345
2012 modern 5,030 #1,332
2013 modern 5,136 #1,331
2014 modern 5,184 #1,329
2015 modern 5,107 #1,336
2016 modern 5,088 #1,333

Geography

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Where Ramseys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside, London parishes, Gateshead and Glasgow. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to County Durham, Suffolk Coastal, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. 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 Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside Durham
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Gateshead Durham
5 Glasgow Lanark

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 County Durham 059 County Durham
2 Suffolk Coastal 009 Suffolk Coastal
3 Suffolk Coastal 010 Suffolk Coastal
4 Sunderland 021 Sunderland
5 Middlesbrough 007 Middlesbrough

Forenames

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First names often paired with Ramsey

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Ramsey

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

Ramsey is most concentrated in decile 10 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.

10
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

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

Meaning and origin of Ramsey

The surname Ramsey is of English origin, deriving from the Old English ram, meaning "ram", and ey, meaning "island" or "flat land near a river". It is a locational name, referring to a place where rams were raised or grazed.

The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Ramesie" in reference to the town of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire. This settlement was established in the 7th century by St. Felix, a Burgundian missionary, who founded a Benedictine abbey there.

In the 12th century, the name was recorded as "Ramesy" and "Rameseye" in the Pipe Rolls of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Over time, the spelling evolved to its modern form, Ramsey.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Sir John Ramsey, a Scottish knight who fought alongside Robert the Bruce in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century. He was granted lands in Lothian for his service.

Another notable figure was Thomas Ramsey, a 16th-century English churchman who served as the Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey in York. He was born in the early 1500s and played a role in the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII.

In the 17th century, James Ramsey, a Scottish mathematician and astronomer, made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics. He was born in 1690 and was a professor at the University of St. Andrews.

The 18th century saw the rise of Allan Ramsey, a renowned Scottish poet and writer who was a prominent figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He was born in 1686 and is best known for his collection of pastoral poems, "The Gentle Shepherd".

In the 19th century, Sir William Ramsey, a British chemist and Nobel laureate, discovered several noble gases, including neon, krypton, and xenon. He was born in 1852 and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for his pioneering work in the field of noble gases.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Ramsey families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Ramsey 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. Durham leads with 552 Ramseys recorded in 1881 and an index of 5.85x.

County Total Index
Durham 552 5.85x
Middlesex 436 1.37x
Yorkshire 336 1.07x
Lancashire 263 0.70x
Northumberland 195 4.13x
Suffolk 192 4.97x
Surrey 184 1.19x
Essex 181 2.89x
Kent 93 0.86x
Lanarkshire 89 0.87x
Midlothian 80 1.88x
Devon 51 0.77x
Ayrshire 40 1.68x
Norfolk 40 0.82x
Sussex 39 0.73x
Hampshire 35 0.54x
Cumberland 33 1.21x
Hertfordshire 32 1.46x
Angus 31 1.05x
Cheshire 24 0.34x
Staffordshire 23 0.21x
Gloucestershire 18 0.29x
Bedfordshire 17 1.03x
Warwickshire 17 0.21x
Somerset 16 0.31x
Stirlingshire 16 1.37x
Wigtownshire 16 3.80x
Worcestershire 15 0.36x
Renfrewshire 14 0.57x
Aberdeenshire 13 0.44x
Derbyshire 13 0.26x
Oxfordshire 12 0.61x
Perthshire 12 0.84x
Clackmannanshire 10 3.81x
Shetland 10 3.08x
Royal Navy 9 2.38x
Selkirkshire 9 3.13x
Argyllshire 8 0.91x
Leicestershire 8 0.23x
Lincolnshire 8 0.16x
Berkshire 7 0.29x
Buckinghamshire 6 0.31x
Dumfriesshire 6 0.86x
Fife 6 0.32x
Nottinghamshire 6 0.14x
Pembrokeshire 6 0.59x
Dorset 4 0.19x
Dunbartonshire 4 0.47x
Glamorgan 4 0.07x
Inverness-shire 4 0.42x
Cambridgeshire 3 0.15x
Northamptonshire 3 0.10x
Nairnshire 1 1.03x
Ross-shire 1 0.11x
Roxburghshire 1 0.17x
Rutland 1 0.43x
Westmorland 1 0.14x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Westoe in Durham leads with 156 Ramseys recorded in 1881 and an index of 29.14x.

Place Total Index
Westoe 156 29.14x
Bishopwearmouth 73 9.01x
Camberwell 47 2.32x
Hackney London 42 2.36x
Bethnal Green London 35 2.54x
Shoreditch London 34 2.47x
North Leith 32 16.26x
Hedworth Monkton Jarrow 31 7.58x
Islington London 30 0.98x
Prittlewell 30 34.55x
Holy Trinity 29 3.83x
Newington 29 2.47x
St Pancras London 29 1.14x
West Ham 25 1.81x
Hartlepool 24 17.88x
Manchester 23 1.36x
Poplar London 23 3.84x
Sculcoates 23 4.61x
Tanfield 23 20.48x
Govan 22 0.87x
Everton 21 1.75x
Gateshead 21 2.97x
Monkwearmouth Shore 21 11.39x
Walthamstow 21 9.31x
Clerkenwell London 20 2.67x
Liverpool 20 0.87x
Bilton Cum Harrogate 19 17.66x
Deptford St Paul 19 2.27x
Greenwich 19 3.76x
Liff Benvie 19 4.26x
Westgate 19 6.50x
Barony 18 0.69x
Elswick 18 4.78x
Heworth 18 9.67x
Kirkdale 18 2.84x
Martlesham 18 332.10x
Cowpen 17 15.63x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 17 0.99x
Kensington London 17 0.96x
Lambeth 17 0.61x
Paddington London 16 1.37x
Chirton 15 14.03x
North Seaton 15 75.72x
Bromley London 14 2.00x
Enfield 14 6.72x
Glasgow 14 0.77x
Portsea 14 1.10x
Romford 14 14.13x
Stoke Damerel 14 3.03x
Thorne 14 35.88x
Fulham London 13 2.82x
Kilmarnock 13 4.60x
Linthorpe 13 6.93x
Luton 13 4.57x
Newington 13 15.01x
Waldridge 13 82.23x
Woolwich 13 3.25x
Edmonton 12 4.69x
Felixstow 12 127.39x
Holy Trinity St Mary 12 25.06x
Ince In Makerfield 12 6.85x
Newcastle On Tyne All Sts 12 4.25x
Old Monkland 12 2.95x
Southchurch 12 207.61x
Sunderland 12 7.20x
Widnes 12 4.42x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 11 2.00x
Brightside Bierlow 11 1.78x
Cheltenham 11 2.29x
Ditton 11 71.43x
Hertford St Andrew 11 40.71x
Mile End Old Town 11 2.20x
Plumstead 11 3.05x
Stockton On Tees 11 2.42x
Sutton 11 8.71x
Sutton Stoneferry 11 12.22x
Westminster St James 11 3.37x
Hedley Woodside 10 205.76x
St Marylebone London 10 0.59x
Uttoxeter 10 18.23x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 186
Elizabeth 97
Jane 80
Sarah 78
Alice 52
Margaret 49
Ann 45
Ellen 43
Isabella 42
Eliza 41
Hannah 40
Emma 29
Emily 25
Annie 23
Catherine 20
Louisa 20
Edith 19
Charlotte 18
Florence 18
Martha 17
Kate 15
Susan 14
Ada 13
Anne 12
Fanny 12
Maria 12
Caroline 11
Eleanor 11
Jessie 11
Dorothy 10
Harriet 10
Agnes 9
Gertrude 9
Rose 9
Janet 8
Amelia 7
Clara 7
Lucy 7
Rebecca 7
Christina 6
Lavinia 6
Sophia 6
Amy 5
Beatrice 5
Ethel 5
Mabel 5
Margret 5
May 5
Rachel 5
Ruth 5

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 194
William 189
James 101
George 92
Thomas 87
Robert 79
Charles 53
Joseph 50
Henry 42
Edward 29
Alfred 25
Arthur 25
Walter 24
Samuel 23
David 21
Frederick 17
Richard 16
Alexander 14
Frank 14
Harry 13
Albert 12
Herbert 11
Ernest 9
Geo. 8
Wm. 8
Allan 6
Allen 6
Benjamin 6
Edwin 6
Francis 6
Hugh 6
Sidney 6
Andrew 5
Daniel 5
Jas. 5
Michael 5
Thos. 5
Douglas 4
Isaac 4
Peter 4
Philip 4
Amos 3
Edgar 3
Frederic 3
Fredrick 3
Leonard 3
Mark 3
Nathan 3
Percy 3
Sydney 3

FAQ

Ramsey surname: questions and answers

How common was the Ramsey surname in 1881?

In 1881, 3,248 people were recorded with the Ramsey surname. That placed it at #1,389 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Ramsey surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 5,088 in 2016. That gives Ramsey a modern rank of #1,333.

What does the Ramsey surname mean?

Derived from a place name meaning "island of wild garlic" in Old English, or "son of Rams" in Norse.

What does the Ramsey map show?

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