NameCensus.

UK surname

Rawlings

An English locational surname derived from a place name meaning "settlement of the family or followers of a man called Rawl."

In the 1881 census there were 4,379 people recorded with the Rawlings surname, ranking it #1,022 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 7,192, ranked #931, up from #1,022 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, Trowbridge and London parishes. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Forest of Dean, Rutland and Cotswold.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Rawlings is 7,504 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 64.2%.

1881 census count

4,379

Ranked #1,022

Modern count

7,192

2016, ranked #931

Peak year

1999

7,504 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Rawlings had 4,379 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,022 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 7,192 in 2016, ranked #931.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 6,607 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Rawlings surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Rawlings surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Rawlings 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 2,518 #1,182
1861 historical 2,263 #1,299
1881 historical 4,379 #1,022
1891 historical 4,614 #1,015
1901 historical 5,911 #936
1911 historical 6,607 #784
1997 modern 7,130 #911
1998 modern 7,475 #900
1999 modern 7,504 #906
2000 modern 7,390 #915
2001 modern 7,227 #913
2002 modern 7,279 #928
2003 modern 7,112 #924
2004 modern 7,175 #918
2005 modern 7,037 #922
2006 modern 7,070 #921
2007 modern 7,104 #923
2008 modern 7,122 #925
2009 modern 7,325 #919
2010 modern 7,450 #924
2011 modern 7,309 #928
2012 modern 7,150 #924
2013 modern 7,299 #922
2014 modern 7,312 #927
2015 modern 7,228 #930
2016 modern 7,192 #931

Geography

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Where Rawlings' are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, Trowbridge, London parishes and St Marylebone. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Forest of Dean, Rutland, Cotswold and Aylesbury Vale. 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 Trowbridge Wiltshire
3 London parishes London 1
4 London parishes London 3
5 St Marylebone London (North Districts)

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Forest of Dean 003 Forest of Dean
2 Rutland 003 Rutland
3 Cotswold 001 Cotswold
4 Aylesbury Vale 004 Aylesbury Vale
5 Rutland 002 Rutland

Forenames

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First names often paired with Rawlings

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Rawlings

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

Young Families and Mainstream Employment

Group

Terraced and Semi-Detached Suburbs

Within London, Rawlings 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

Rawlings 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

Rawlings falls in decile 8 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.

8
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Rawlings

The surname Rawlings is of English origin, and it is derived from the Old English word "rawlingas," which means "the descendants of Rawlin." The earliest recorded instances of this surname date back to the 12th century in the county of Lincolnshire, England.

Rawlings is a locational surname, meaning it was initially given to people who lived in or came from a particular place. In this case, the name likely referred to someone who lived near or came from a settlement or farmstead called "Rawlin's enclosure" or something similar.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Rawlings can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from 1195, where a certain "William deRaulingis" is mentioned. This early spelling variation highlights the evolution of the name over time.

In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various records, including the Hundred Rolls of 1273, where a "Ralph de Rawelinge" is mentioned in the county of Oxfordshire. This suggests that the name had spread to other parts of England by this time.

Over the centuries, the Rawlings surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Sir John Rawlins (c. 1470-1538), who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1528 and was a prominent merchant and financier.

Another notable figure was Sir Walter Rawlinson (1619-1667), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament and was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentarian cause during the English Civil War.

In the literary world, John Rawlins (1619-1691) was a notable 17th-century English writer and poet. He is best known for his work "The Rebellion," a poetic account of the English Civil War.

Thomas Rawlinson (1681-1725) was an English clergyman and bibliophile who amassed a significant collection of books and manuscripts, many of which are now housed in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.

In more recent history, Sir Gordon Rawlinson (1919-1998) was a British army officer and diplomat who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1973 to 1975.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Rawlings families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Rawlings 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 750 Rawlings' recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.76x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 750 1.76x
Wiltshire 408 10.80x
Surrey 320 1.54x
Somerset 319 4.64x
Gloucestershire 311 3.71x
Yorkshire 201 0.47x
Essex 159 1.89x
Shropshire 139 3.77x
Cornwall 128 2.65x
Warwickshire 123 1.14x
Kent 109 0.75x
Oxfordshire 91 3.45x
Hampshire 88 1.01x
Worcestershire 87 1.56x
Northamptonshire 86 2.14x
Herefordshire 83 4.74x
Staffordshire 77 0.53x
Durham 76 0.60x
Lancashire 76 0.15x
Rutland 76 24.23x
Devon 71 0.80x
Lincolnshire 67 0.98x
Leicestershire 56 1.18x
Berkshire 51 1.59x
Monmouthshire 51 1.65x
Buckinghamshire 50 1.94x
Cambridgeshire 44 1.63x
Dorset 38 1.36x
Bedfordshire 37 1.67x
Huntingdonshire 32 3.77x
Cheshire 28 0.30x
Glamorgan 23 0.31x
Hertfordshire 23 0.78x
Sussex 22 0.31x
Suffolk 16 0.31x
Norfolk 15 0.23x
Derbyshire 14 0.21x
Royal Navy 7 1.38x
Northumberland 6 0.09x
Merionethshire 4 0.51x
Radnorshire 4 1.16x
Cumberland 3 0.08x
Brecknockshire 2 0.23x
Pembrokeshire 2 0.15x
Ayrshire 1 0.03x
Nottinghamshire 1 0.02x
Renfrewshire 1 0.03x
Westmorland 1 0.11x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Trowbridge in Wiltshire leads with 98 Rawlings' recorded in 1881 and an index of 58.69x.

Place Total Index
Trowbridge 98 58.69x
Camberwell 65 2.38x
Bethnal Green London 61 3.29x
Hackney London 60 2.51x
Islington London 49 1.18x
St Marylebone London 49 2.15x
St Pancras London 48 1.40x
Chelsea London 45 3.50x
Leicester St Margaret 41 3.55x
Shoreditch London 41 2.21x
Walcot 39 10.65x
Lambeth 38 1.02x
Coldashton 36 631.58x
Mile End Old Town 35 5.19x
Battersea 34 2.16x
Aston 33 1.11x
Kensington London 33 1.39x
Tottenham 32 4.70x
Newington 30 1.90x
Wandsworth 28 6.81x
Biggleswade 27 37.27x
Braunston 26 459.36x
Dudley 26 3.83x
Stoke Damerel 26 4.18x
Peterborough 25 8.59x
Portsea 25 1.46x
West Ham 25 1.34x
Hammersmith London 23 2.19x
Poplar London 23 2.85x
Cherhill 22 522.57x
Deptford St Paul 22 1.96x
Wick Abson 22 171.34x
Barking 21 8.51x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 21 2.66x
Clerkenwell London 21 2.08x
Bristol St George 20 5.16x
Cheltenham 20 3.09x
Southwark St Saviour 20 9.11x
Bromley London 19 2.02x
Dyrham Hinton 19 324.23x
Frome 19 11.55x
Southwark St George Martyr 19 2.21x
Bitton Oldland 18 21.02x
Bradford On Avon 18 14.88x
Clevedon 18 25.17x
Lyncombe Widcombe 18 10.00x
St George Hanover 18 3.23x
Trevethin 18 6.17x
Barrow In Furness 17 2.47x
East Claydon 17 340.68x
Melksham 17 25.92x
Batheaston 16 67.97x
Bow London 16 2.94x
Marsh Gibbon 16 147.33x
Ropsley 16 168.78x
Rotherhithe 16 3.03x
St Woollos 16 4.64x
Bristol St Paul In 15 6.72x
Collingbourne Ducis 15 238.10x
Enfield 15 5.35x
Much Wenlock 15 44.07x
Richards Castle 15 134.05x
Tredington 15 98.36x
Birmingham 14 0.39x
Bishopwearmouth 14 1.28x
Bristol St James St Paul 14 5.01x
Hartlepool 14 7.75x
Leeds 14 0.59x
Leyton Low 14 8.17x
Newbury 14 13.63x
Oakham Lordshold 14 42.64x
Pembridge 14 72.46x
Teigh 14 725.39x
Beaumont 13 207.67x
Clifton 13 3.07x
Compton Bassett 13 237.66x
Market Overton 13 229.28x
Shepton Mallet 13 16.85x
Westbury On Trym 13 4.58x
Woolwich 13 2.41x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 274
Elizabeth 185
Sarah 163
Eliza 90
Ann 84
Emma 77
Jane 77
Ellen 72
Emily 67
Annie 57
Alice 50
Martha 44
Louisa 39
Hannah 35
Charlotte 34
Harriet 34
Florence 30
Caroline 29
Maria 27
Ada 26
Fanny 26
Kate 26
Harriett 25
Susan 24
Edith 23
Clara 22
Rose 21
Frances 19
Margaret 18
Amelia 17
Matilda 16
Susannah 15
Anne 13
Lucy 13
Agnes 12
Amy 12
Catherine 11
Julia 10
Rebecca 10
Lily 9
Minnie 9
Sophia 9
Bessie 8
Elizth. 8
Isabella 8
Laura 8
Lydia 8
Rhoda 8
Ruth 8
Henrietta 7

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 290
John 234
George 166
James 136
Thomas 124
Henry 119
Charles 101
Edward 59
Albert 57
Joseph 57
Alfred 52
Samuel 47
Arthur 46
Richard 43
Frederick 40
Walter 32
Frank 29
Robert 24
Edwin 18
Francis 17
Herbert 17
Wm. 17
Ernest 16
Harry 16
Benjamin 14
David 12
Fred 11
Geo. 11
Chas. 9
Sidney 9
Thos. 9
Fredrick 7
Isaac 7
Percy 7
Edgar 6
Fredk. 6
Reginald 6
Stephen 6
Job 5
Jonathan 5
Moses 5
Timothy 5
Edwd. 4
Frederic 4
Peter 4
Edmund 3
Jacob 3
Jno. 3
Reuben 3
Sam 3

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 Rawlings households.

FAQ

Rawlings surname: questions and answers

How common was the Rawlings surname in 1881?

In 1881, 4,379 people were recorded with the Rawlings surname. That placed it at #1,022 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Rawlings surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 7,192 in 2016. That gives Rawlings a modern rank of #931.

What does the Rawlings surname mean?

An English locational surname derived from a place name meaning "settlement of the family or followers of a man called Rawl."

What does the Rawlings map show?

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