NameCensus.

UK surname

Saywell

In the 1881 census there were 445 people recorded with the Saywell surname, ranking it #7,373 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 474, ranked #10,385, down from #7,373 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, London parishes and Nottingham St Mary. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Shropshire, Huntingdonshire and Torridge.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Saywell is 612 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 6.5%.

1881 census count

445

Ranked #7,373

Modern count

474

2016, ranked #10,385

Peak year

1911

612 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Saywell had 445 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #7,373 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 474 in 2016, ranked #10,385.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 612 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Saywell surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Saywell surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Saywell 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 287 #7,909
1861 historical 347 #7,357
1881 historical 445 #7,373
1891 historical 534 #7,037
1901 historical 589 #7,164
1911 historical 612 #6,734
1997 modern 526 #8,963
1998 modern 554 #8,876
1999 modern 545 #9,044
2000 modern 552 #8,917
2001 modern 534 #9,000
2002 modern 525 #9,322
2003 modern 496 #9,540
2004 modern 497 #9,558
2005 modern 482 #9,685
2006 modern 483 #9,722
2007 modern 482 #9,831
2008 modern 479 #9,964
2009 modern 481 #10,148
2010 modern 490 #10,211
2011 modern 479 #10,280
2012 modern 464 #10,439
2013 modern 480 #10,331
2014 modern 476 #10,457
2015 modern 473 #10,440
2016 modern 474 #10,385

Geography

Back to top

Where Saywells are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, London parishes, Nottingham St Mary, Borden and Sittingbourne. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Shropshire, Huntingdonshire, Torridge and Medway. 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 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
2 London parishes London 3
3 Nottingham St Mary Nottinghamshire
4 Borden Kent
5 Sittingbourne Kent

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Shropshire 001 Shropshire
2 Huntingdonshire 021 Huntingdonshire
3 Torridge 009 Torridge
4 Medway 018 Medway
5 Shropshire 002 Shropshire

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Saywell

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Saywell

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

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

European Enclaves

Within London, Saywell is most associated with areas classed as European Enclaves, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. 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

Many residents of these accessible neighbourhoods have wide-ranging non-UK European origins. Typically residing in privately rented flats, many residents live alone and are beyond normal retirement age. There are more students than elsewhere in the Supergroup, some of which live in communal establishments. Household residents are often drawn from different ethnic groups.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Saywell is most concentrated in decile 9 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.

9
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Saywell falls in decile 4 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.

4
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Saywell is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of Over 70 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Saywell, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

1881 census detail

Back to top

Saywell families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Saywell 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. Kent leads with 106 Saywells recorded in 1881 and an index of 7.24x.

County Total Index
Kent 106 7.24x
Nottinghamshire 93 16.08x
Middlesex 49 1.14x
Lincolnshire 36 5.25x
Cambridgeshire 26 9.56x
Warwickshire 26 2.40x
Wiltshire 13 3.42x
Derbyshire 12 1.79x
Surrey 11 0.53x
Leicestershire 10 2.10x
Berkshire 9 2.79x
Oxfordshire 9 3.40x
Lancashire 8 0.16x
Yorkshire 8 0.19x
Sussex 7 0.97x
Glamorgan 5 0.67x
Northamptonshire 4 0.99x
Worcestershire 3 0.54x
Cheshire 2 0.21x
Hampshire 2 0.23x
Gloucestershire 1 0.12x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Nottingham St Mary in Nottinghamshire leads with 41 Saywells recorded in 1881 and an index of 27.40x.

Place Total Index
Nottingham St Mary 41 27.40x
Radford 37 125.89x
Gillingham 27 89.43x
Croxton 26 6046.51x
Borden 17 913.98x
Sittingbourne 13 112.46x
Mile End Old Town 12 17.71x
Aston 11 3.69x
Milton In Milton 11 176.57x
Leicester St Margaret 10 8.62x
Steeple Langford 10 1298.70x
Kirkby Underwood 9 2903.23x
Abingdon St Helen 8 84.93x
Chatham 8 19.86x
Gt Milton 8 898.88x
Leamington 8 111.58x
Long Eaton 8 90.19x
Bethnal Green London 7 3.75x
Hastings St Mary In The 7 45.34x
Norton Disney 7 2800.00x
St Pancras London 6 1.74x
Bredgar 5 549.45x
Brightside Bierlow 5 5.99x
Harlaxton 5 892.86x
Llandaff 5 20.11x
Nottingham St Nicholas 5 63.45x
Pemberton 5 24.62x
Willesden 5 12.36x
Wormshill 5 1612.90x
Battersea 4 2.53x
Burton Joyce 4 404.04x
Great Grimsby 4 9.18x
Hough On Hill 4 701.75x
Newborough 4 388.35x
Rotherhithe 4 7.54x
Strood 4 47.90x
Sutton Cum Duckmanton 4 571.43x
Basford 3 11.25x
Beckingham 3 588.24x
Bromsgrove 3 15.91x
Carlton Le Moorland 3 652.17x
Clerkenwell London 3 2.96x
Rochester St Margaret 3 19.43x
Royton 3 19.26x
St Clement Danes 3 43.17x
Stoke 3 357.14x
Warwick St Mary 3 31.91x
Beckenham 2 10.45x
Camberwell 2 0.73x
Hackney London 2 0.83x
Hanwell 2 26.28x
Kensington London 2 0.84x
Leamington Priors 2 7.51x
Lockngtn In Kilnwck 2 263.16x
Newark Upon Trent 2 9.62x
Newington In Milton 2 130.72x
St George Hanover 2 3.57x
Twickenham 2 10.87x
Anstey 1 476.19x
Bredbury 1 18.25x
Britford 1 39.84x
Clifton 1 2.35x
Cranbrook 1 16.13x
Folkestone 1 3.52x
Grantham 1 11.19x
Great Faringdon 1 21.60x
Greenwich 1 1.46x
Hucknall Torkard 1 6.82x
Ickford 1 181.82x
Newington 1 0.63x
Northallerton 1 18.42x
Portsmouth 1 4.94x
Preston Next Faversham 1 29.07x
Salisbury St Martin 1 25.32x
St George In East 1 3.43x
St Marylebone London 1 0.44x
Tonbridge 1 1.89x
Tranmere 1 2.87x
Warminster 1 12.02x
Woolwich 1 1.85x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 20
Elizabeth 16
Eliza 13
Ann 10
Annie 10
Ellen 9
Sarah 9
Alice 6
Harriet 6
Jane 6
Charlotte 5
Emma 5
Lucy 5
Louisa 4
Maria 4
Minnie 4
Ada 3
Caroline 3
Catherine 3
Clara 3
Edith 3
Elizth. 3
Emily 3
Esther 3
Florence 3
Hannah 3
Harriett 3
Kate 3
Martha 3
Agnes 2
Anne 2
Betsey 2
Fanny 2
Gertrude 2
Lilian 2
Rebecca 2
Ruth 2
Cellia 1
Charity 1
Elenor 1
Elisabeth 1
Estella 1
Ethel 1
J. 1
Julia 1
Lilias 1
Linda 1
Lizze 1
Lizzie 1
Violetta 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 27
John 24
George 16
James 12
Thomas 10
Joseph 8
Richard 8
Alfred 7
Edward 7
Samuel 7
Arthur 6
Henry 6
Charles 5
Walter 5
Frederick 4
Albert 3
Edwin 3
Harry 3
Herbert 3
Horace 3
Jasper 3
Claude 2
Edgar 2
Edmund 2
Ernest 2
Frank 2
Jesse 2
Lemuel 2
Noel 2
Robert 2
Sidney 2
Alphonse 1
Benjamin 1
Bertie 1
Chas. 1
David 1
Francis 1
Fredk.T. 1
Gabriel 1
Geo. 1
Herber 1
Jno. 1
Laurance 1
Louis 1
Percy 1
Rowland 1
Thos. 1
Tom 1
Valentine 1
W.C. 1

FAQ

Saywell surname: questions and answers

How common was the Saywell surname in 1881?

In 1881, 445 people were recorded with the Saywell surname. That placed it at #7,373 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Saywell surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 474 in 2016. That gives Saywell a modern rank of #10,385.

What does the Saywell map show?

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