NameCensus.

UK surname

Shippey

A variant of the English surname "Shippy", derived from an occupational name for a ship-builder.

In the 1881 census there were 149 people recorded with the Shippey surname, ranking it #15,551 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 382, ranked #12,292, up from #15,551 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Leverington, London parishes and St Pancras. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Fenland, East Riding of Yorkshire and Scarborough.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Shippey is 410 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 156.4%.

1881 census count

149

Ranked #15,551

Modern count

382

2016, ranked #12,292

Peak year

1999

410 bearers

Map years

7

1881 to 2016

Key insights

  • Shippey had 149 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #15,551 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 382 in 2016, ranked #12,292.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 245 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Shippey surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Shippey surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Shippey 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 87 #18,695
1861 historical 54 #27,127
1881 historical 149 #15,551
1891 historical 153 #18,078
1901 historical 172 #16,643
1911 historical 245 #13,084
1997 modern 385 #11,314
1998 modern 408 #11,187
1999 modern 410 #11,246
2000 modern 404 #11,306
2001 modern 390 #11,420
2002 modern 408 #11,272
2003 modern 397 #11,316
2004 modern 402 #11,244
2005 modern 387 #11,463
2006 modern 376 #11,775
2007 modern 381 #11,798
2008 modern 375 #12,059
2009 modern 385 #12,070
2010 modern 409 #11,783
2011 modern 404 #11,786
2012 modern 396 #11,807
2013 modern 401 #11,890
2014 modern 393 #12,168
2015 modern 387 #12,218
2016 modern 382 #12,292

Geography

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Where Shippeys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Leverington, London parishes, St Pancras and Cambridge: St Andrew the Less, St Andrew the Great, Holy Trinity, St Benedict. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Fenland, East Riding of Yorkshire and Scarborough. 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 Leverington Cambridgeshire
2 London parishes London 3
3 St Pancras London (North Districts)
4 Cambridge: St Andrew the Less, St Andrew the Great, Holy Trinity, St Benedict Cambridgeshire
5 London parishes London 2

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Fenland 001 Fenland
2 East Riding of Yorkshire 005 East Riding of Yorkshire
3 Fenland 003 Fenland
4 East Riding of Yorkshire 003 East Riding of Yorkshire
5 Scarborough 009 Scarborough

Forenames

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First names often paired with Shippey

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Shippey

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Shippey, 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 Shippey surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Shippey 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

Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs

Group

Professional Periphery

Within London, Shippey is most associated with areas classed as Professional Periphery, part of Older Residents in Owner-Occupied Suburbs. 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

These neighbourhoods predominantly house residents aged 45+, with many aged 85+. Most employed residents work in senior roles, and relatively few work in unskilled jobs. Terraced housing is comparatively rare, but communal living is more common. More residents identify as of Indian ethnicity and more affiliate with non-Christian religions. Disability levels are below the Supergroup average.

Wider London pattern

The age distribution of these neighbourhoods is skewed towards the middle-aged and old, although few residents live alone or in communal establishments and numbers of dependent children are around average. Owner occupation is the norm, as is residence in detached or semi-detached houses. Residential densities are low and many households have spare rooms. Most residents were born in the UK and, aside from some identifying as members of Chinese or Indian ethnicities, identify as White. Mixed ethnicity households are rare. Incidence of married couples is higher than average and few individuals have never been married. A large proportion of individuals still in employment work in administrative and secretarial occupations, or in the construction industry. Few residents are students, and many households own more than one car.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Shippey is most concentrated in decile 7 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.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Shippey falls in decile 5 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.

5
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Shippey

The surname SHIPPEY has its origins in England, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "scip" meaning ship and "heg" meaning hedge or enclosure, referring to an area near a shipyard or a place where ships were built or repaired.

The name was first recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it appeared as "Schipheye". This early spelling suggests that the name may have originated from a place name, perhaps a location where ships were constructed or maintained.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms such as "Schipheye", "Schippeye", and "Shippey" in various records, including the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1327 and the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1332.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SHIPPEY can be found in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Wiltshire in 1333, where a Thomas Shippey is mentioned. This provides evidence of the surname's use in the 14th century.

Notable individuals with the surname SHIPPEY include John Shippey, a merchant from Bristol, England, who was born in 1580 and traded with the West Indies and North America. Another prominent figure was Richard Shippey, a wealthy landowner from Oxfordshire, who lived from 1620 to 1692.

In the 18th century, the name SHIPPEY appears in various parish records and legal documents across England. One such example is William Shippey, a farmer from Gloucestershire, who was born in 1745 and is mentioned in the parish records of Cheltenham.

Another notable individual was Mary Shippey, a writer and poet from London, who lived from 1789 to 1867. Her collection of poems, titled "Verses on Various Occasions," was published in 1821 and received critical acclaim.

The 19th century saw the migration of individuals with the surname SHIPPEY to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia. One example is James Shippey, a British settler who arrived in Australia in 1823 and became a successful businessman in Sydney.

While the surname SHIPPEY is not among the most common in the world, it has a rich history and can be traced back to medieval England, with its origins likely rooted in a place name related to shipbuilding or maritime activities.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Shippey families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Shippey 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. Yorkshire leads with 47 Shippeys recorded in 1881 and an index of 3.26x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 47 3.26x
Middlesex 27 1.86x
Cambridgeshire 23 24.98x
Essex 12 4.18x
Surrey 9 1.27x
Staffordshire 8 1.63x
Suffolk 6 3.39x
Kent 5 1.01x
Nottinghamshire 5 2.55x
Lincolnshire 3 1.29x
Lancashire 2 0.12x
Oxfordshire 1 1.11x
Sussex 1 0.41x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Hinderwell in Yorkshire leads with 15 Shippeys recorded in 1881 and an index of 1219.51x.

Place Total Index
Hinderwell 15 1219.51x
Hilderthorpe 11 1506.85x
Newton 11 3055.56x
St Pancras London 10 8.55x
Harborne 8 50.89x
Scarborough 8 61.12x
West Ham 7 11.05x
Easington In Guisbrough 6 1875.00x
Gorleston 6 133.33x
Lambeth 6 4.73x
Gringley On Hill 5 1219.51x
Hackney London 5 6.14x
Holy Trinity Cambridge 5 500.00x
Ramsgate 5 61.80x
Middlesbrough 4 21.33x
Tottenham 4 17.28x
Bourn 3 159.57x
Bow London 3 16.22x
Filey 3 258.62x
Richmond 3 30.24x
Wisbech St Peter 3 64.94x
Brentwood 2 114.29x
Kensington London 2 2.48x
St Andrewthe Less 2 19.01x
Bethnal Green London 1 1.58x
Braintree 1 38.76x
Brighton 1 2.02x
Chelmsford 1 20.33x
Droylsden 1 17.76x
Hampstead London 1 4.42x
Hulme 1 2.78x
Kingham 1 322.58x
Leverington 1 163.93x
Leyton 1 20.24x
St Benedict Cambridge 1 192.31x
St George Hanover 1 5.27x

Top female names

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

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 12
William 10
George 5
Samuel 5
Thomas 5
Charles 4
Edward 3
Richard 3
Robert 3
Joseph 2
Allan 1
Arthur 1
Bruce 1
Burton 1
Francis 1
Fred 1
Fredick 1
Harry 1
Henry 1
James 1
Jane 1
Mason 1
Thos. 1
Walter 1
Wm. 1

FAQ

Shippey surname: questions and answers

How common was the Shippey surname in 1881?

In 1881, 149 people were recorded with the Shippey surname. That placed it at #15,551 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Shippey surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 382 in 2016. That gives Shippey a modern rank of #12,292.

What does the Shippey surname mean?

A variant of the English surname "Shippy", derived from an occupational name for a ship-builder.

What does the Shippey map show?

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