NameCensus.

UK surname

Roskell

In the 1881 census there were 321 people recorded with the Roskell surname, ranking it #9,277 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 437, ranked #11,045, down from #9,277 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Rochdale, Poulton and Preston. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Wyre and Copeland.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Roskell is 460 in 2000. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 36.1%.

1881 census count

321

Ranked #9,277

Modern count

437

2016, ranked #11,045

Peak year

2000

460 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Roskell had 321 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #9,277 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 437 in 2016, ranked #11,045.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 449 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Roskell surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Roskell surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Roskell 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 227 #9,448
1861 historical 166 #14,039
1881 historical 321 #9,277
1891 historical 352 #9,781
1901 historical 416 #9,220
1911 historical 449 #8,519
1997 modern 428 #10,451
1998 modern 437 #10,637
1999 modern 450 #10,451
2000 modern 460 #10,245
2001 modern 443 #10,371
2002 modern 447 #10,501
2003 modern 434 #10,588
2004 modern 426 #10,768
2005 modern 418 #10,812
2006 modern 418 #10,861
2007 modern 425 #10,837
2008 modern 431 #10,814
2009 modern 438 #10,927
2010 modern 445 #11,002
2011 modern 446 #10,863
2012 modern 434 #10,977
2013 modern 447 #10,885
2014 modern 457 #10,767
2015 modern 440 #11,017
2016 modern 437 #11,045

Geography

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Where Roskells are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Rochdale, Poulton, Preston, Bispham and St Michael-on-Wyre. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Wyre and Copeland. 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 Rochdale Lancashire
2 Poulton Lancashire
3 Preston Lancashire
4 Bispham Lancashire
5 St Michael-on-Wyre Lancashire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Wyre 004 Wyre
2 Wyre 009 Wyre
3 Wyre 007 Wyre
4 Copeland 008 Copeland
5 Wyre 001 Wyre

Forenames

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First names often paired with Roskell

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Roskell

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Roskell, 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 Roskell surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Small Town Suburbia, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Roskell 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

Social Rented Sector Families with Children

Group

Social Rented Sector Pockets

Within London, Roskell is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Pockets, part of Social Rented Sector Families with Children. 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

Found in pockets across London, residents are less likely to live in private sector rentals and fewer adults are students. Fewer individuals work in transport and communications occupations relative to the Supergroup average. More individuals identify as Black and were born in Africa.

Wider London pattern

Residents of these neighbourhoods include sizable numbers identifying with ethnicities originating outside Europe, particularly in Africa or Bangladesh. The proportion of residents identifying as White, Indian or Pakistani is well below the London average. Neighbourhood age profiles are skewed towards younger adults, and above average numbers of families have children. Rates of use of English at home are below average. Marriage rates are low, and levels of separation or divorce are above average. Housing is predominantly in flats, and renting in the social rented sector the norm - few residents are owner occupiers. Housing is often overcrowded, and neighbourhoods are amongst the most densely populated in London. Disability rates are above average, although levels of unpaid care provision are about average. Employment is in caring, leisure, other service occupations, sales and customer service, or process, plant, and machine operation. Part time working and full-time student study are common. Levels of unemployment are slightly above average. Most residents have only Level 1 or 2 educational qualifications or have completed apprenticeships.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Roskell is most concentrated in decile 4 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.

4
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Roskell falls in decile 7 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.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Roskell families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Roskell 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. Lancashire leads with 287 Roskells recorded in 1881 and an index of 7.61x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 287 7.61x
Middlesex 10 0.31x
Westmorland 6 8.58x
Hampshire 5 0.77x
Isle of Man 5 8.47x
Norfolk 4 0.82x
Durham 2 0.21x
Glamorgan 2 0.36x
Yorkshire 2 0.06x
Essex 1 0.16x
Flintshire 1 1.17x
Surrey 1 0.06x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Thornton In Fylde in Lancashire leads with 56 Roskells recorded in 1881 and an index of 677.97x.

Place Total Index
Thornton In Fylde 56 677.97x
Out Rawcliffe 28 3111.11x
Preston 28 27.74x
Everton 22 18.29x
Penwortham 14 782.12x
Hambleton 12 2857.14x
Layton With Warbreck 12 86.64x
Barrow In Furness 10 19.49x
Carleton 10 2439.02x
Clifton Cum Salwick 9 2000.00x
Accrington 8 23.32x
Liverpool 8 3.49x
Much Hoole 8 1269.84x
Appleby St Lawrence 6 377.36x
Spotland 6 14.30x
Kensington London 5 2.83x
Lancaster 5 22.27x
North Meols 5 13.54x
St Helens 5 105.49x
Upper Rawcliffe With 5 746.27x
Blackburn 4 3.98x
Braddan 4 123.84x
Fulwood 4 98.04x
Norwich St John Sepulchre 4 126.18x
Poulton Le Fylde 4 298.51x
Winstanley 4 677.97x
Croston 3 153.85x
Greenhalgh With 3 731.71x
Leyland 3 45.73x
Lytham 3 52.08x
Carnforth 2 96.62x
Chorlton On Medlock 2 3.34x
Esh 2 29.07x
Kirkdale 2 3.15x
St George In East 2 9.25x
Swansea St Thomas 2 35.97x
Wavertree 2 16.56x
Bermondsey 1 1.06x
Boreham 1 92.59x
Bowland Forest High 1 400.00x
Dilworth 1 43.29x
Great Eccleston 1 147.06x
Hammersmith London 1 1.28x
Holywell 1 9.32x
Kirkham 1 20.04x
Lezayre 1 37.74x
Preesall With 1 108.70x
Richmond 1 20.33x
St George Hanover 1 2.41x
St Marylebone London 1 0.59x
Stalmine With Staynall 1 181.82x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 26
Margaret 18
Elizabeth 15
Alice 11
Ellen 11
Jane 9
Isabella 8
Ann 7
Sarah 6
Agnes 5
Eliza 5
Emily 3
Kate 3
Martha 3
Annie 2
Betsy 2
Betty 2
Dorothy 2
Elizth. 2
Emma 2
Grace 2
Janet 2
Jenny 2
Peggy 2
Ada 1
Agness 1
Anna 1
Bertha 1
Bessie 1
Catherine 1
Esther 1
Eve 1
Josephine 1
Letitia 1
Lydia 1
Maggie 1
Margt. 1
Maria 1
Marjory 1
Maud 1
Nancy 1
Nannie 1
Phoebe 1
Pricilla 1
Rachel 1
Robert 1
Rosamund 1
Rose 1
Susannah 1
Theuse 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 24
John 23
George 20
Robert 20
Thomas 17
James 10
Richard 9
Joseph 4
Matthew 2
Nicholas 2
Samuel 2
Allan 1
Archibald 1
Barton 1
Charles 1
Edward 1
Elijah 1
Francis 1
Harry 1
Henry 1
Hubert 1
Noble 1
Richd. 1
Robt.Thornton 1

FAQ

Roskell surname: questions and answers

How common was the Roskell surname in 1881?

In 1881, 321 people were recorded with the Roskell surname. That placed it at #9,277 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Roskell surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 437 in 2016. That gives Roskell a modern rank of #11,045.

What does the Roskell map show?

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