NameCensus.

UK surname

Ruffles

In the 1881 census there were 357 people recorded with the Ruffles surname, ranking it #8,652 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 542, ranked #9,396, down from #8,652 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bardwell, London parishes and Thrandeston. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Ruffles is 616 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 51.8%.

1881 census count

357

Ranked #8,652

Modern count

542

2016, ranked #9,396

Peak year

1999

616 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Ruffles had 357 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #8,652 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 542 in 2016, ranked #9,396.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 496 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Ruffles surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Ruffles surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Ruffles 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 162 #12,215
1861 historical 127 #17,469
1881 historical 357 #8,652
1891 historical 361 #9,589
1901 historical 496 #8,098
1911 historical 496 #7,867
1997 modern 591 #8,235
1998 modern 600 #8,397
1999 modern 616 #8,299
2000 modern 607 #8,367
2001 modern 602 #8,280
2002 modern 575 #8,685
2003 modern 575 #8,574
2004 modern 553 #8,823
2005 modern 545 #8,842
2006 modern 548 #8,844
2007 modern 567 #8,703
2008 modern 564 #8,792
2009 modern 562 #9,013
2010 modern 555 #9,305
2011 modern 556 #9,185
2012 modern 545 #9,230
2013 modern 562 #9,162
2014 modern 552 #9,362
2015 modern 544 #9,406
2016 modern 542 #9,396

Geography

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Where Ruffles' are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bardwell, London parishes, Thrandeston and Winston. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal. 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 Bardwell Suffolk
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Thrandeston Suffolk
5 Winston Suffolk

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Mid Suffolk 007 Mid Suffolk
2 Suffolk Coastal 012 Suffolk Coastal
3 Suffolk Coastal 002 Suffolk Coastal
4 Mid Suffolk 012 Mid Suffolk
5 Suffolk Coastal 015 Suffolk Coastal

Forenames

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First names often paired with Ruffles

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Ruffles

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Ruffles, 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

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Ruffles surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Ruffles household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

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

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Ruffles 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

Ruffles 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

Ruffles falls in decile 6 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.

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Ruffles families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Ruffles 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. Suffolk leads with 168 Ruffles' recorded in 1881 and an index of 39.61x.

County Total Index
Suffolk 168 39.61x
Essex 40 5.82x
Middlesex 34 0.98x
Kent 23 1.94x
Yorkshire 17 0.49x
Lancashire 15 0.36x
Surrey 12 0.71x
Oxfordshire 11 5.12x
Warwickshire 9 1.02x
Hampshire 7 0.98x
Durham 6 0.58x
Norfolk 6 1.12x
Anglesey 3 4.86x
Staffordshire 3 0.26x
Cambridgeshire 1 0.45x
Hertfordshire 1 0.42x
Lincolnshire 1 0.18x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Bardwell in Suffolk leads with 15 Ruffles' recorded in 1881 and an index of 1666.67x.

Place Total Index
Bardwell 15 1666.67x
Gislingham 13 1969.70x
Garsington 11 1506.85x
Winston 11 3142.86x
Bury St Edmunds St James 10 88.26x
Framsden 10 1063.83x
Lambeth 10 3.29x
Aston 9 3.72x
Gillingham 8 32.65x
Romford 8 73.60x
Alverstoke 7 27.09x
Ashton Under Lyne 7 7.75x
Bedfield 7 1555.56x
Ashfield 6 2222.22x
Deptford St Paul 6 6.55x
Ipswich St Margaret 6 41.70x
Kirkdale 6 8.63x
Newbottle 6 106.01x
Sible Hedingham 6 260.87x
St George Hanover 6 13.20x
Tolleshunt Knights 6 1090.91x
Whitton 6 800.00x
Beaumont 5 980.39x
Bramford 5 314.47x
Leyton Low 5 35.79x
Sprowston 5 211.86x
St Luke London 5 8.95x
Thrandeston 5 1470.59x
Battisford 4 769.23x
Boyton 4 1212.12x
Calverley Cum Farsley 4 40.82x
Creeting All Sts 4 1111.11x
Debenham 4 283.69x
Faversham 4 35.30x
Great Sampford 4 540.54x
Hopton 4 380.95x
Ipswich St Mathew 4 33.64x
Islington London 4 1.19x
Monk Soham 4 833.33x
Rickinghall Superior 4 588.24x
St Botolph Aldgate 4 84.21x
Stanton 4 400.00x
Thornton In Bradford 4 34.81x
Ashbocking 3 789.47x
Barnsley 3 8.43x
Bedingfield 3 750.00x
Helmingham 3 731.71x
Kirkley 3 84.51x
Llandysilio 3 154.64x
Rickinghall Inferior 3 681.82x
Walsall Foreign 3 4.94x
Walton 3 197.37x
Botesdale 2 303.03x
Enfield 2 8.75x
Eye 2 72.99x
Hampstead London 2 3.69x
Ipswich St Helen 2 39.76x
Shoreditch London 2 1.32x
St James Isle Of Grain 2 588.24x
Stradbroke 2 139.86x
Wanstead 2 16.61x
West Ham 2 1.32x
Wortley In Wortley 2 147.06x
Yaxley 2 454.55x
Yearsley 2 1052.63x
All Hallows Honey Lane 1 2500.00x
Colchester St Botolph 1 17.09x
Colne 1 8.12x
Crayke 1 166.67x
Finningham 1 200.00x
Greenwich 1 1.80x
Ipswich St Lawrence 1 175.44x
Ipswich St Mary At Tower 1 106.38x
Putney 1 6.30x
St George Bloomsbury 1 5.01x
St George In East 1 4.22x
St Marylebone London 1 0.54x
Thorrington 1 227.27x
Warrington 1 2.04x
Westminster St John 1 2.36x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 20
Emma 17
Sarah 15
Alice 11
Elizabeth 10
Ellen 10
Jane 8
Emily 6
Eliza 5
Ann 4
Florence 4
Harriet 4
Martha 4
Caroline 3
Charlotte 3
Louisa 3
Rose 3
Agnes 2
Amelia 2
Anna 2
Annie 2
Hannah 2
Janet 2
Kate 2
Margaret 2
Maria 2
Rosetta 2
Cecelia 1
Charlot 1
Christiana 1
Clara 1
Edith 1
Eliza. 1
Emnarca 1
Esther 1
Eunice 1
Florey 1
Frances 1
Georgina 1
Gertrude 1
Hattie 1
Ida 1
Jessie 1
Lily 1
Lucy 1
Lydia 1
Matilda 1
May 1
Milrena 1
Zillah 1

Top male names

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

FAQ

Ruffles surname: questions and answers

How common was the Ruffles surname in 1881?

In 1881, 357 people were recorded with the Ruffles surname. That placed it at #8,652 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Ruffles surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 542 in 2016. That gives Ruffles a modern rank of #9,396.

What does the Ruffles map show?

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