NameCensus.

UK surname

Small

An English topographic name for someone who lived near a narrow or small road, path, or bridge.

In the 1881 census there were 7,628 people recorded with the Small surname, ranking it #560 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 11,744, ranked #556, up from #560 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Edinburgh. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Douglas West, Lewes and South Staffordshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Small is 12,204 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 54.0%.

1881 census count

7,628

Ranked #560

Modern count

11,744

2016, ranked #556

Peak year

2010

12,204 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Small had 7,628 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #560 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 11,744 in 2016, ranked #556.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 9,752 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Ageing Communities.

Small surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Small surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Small 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 5,311 #520
1861 historical 5,656 #488
1881 historical 7,628 #560
1891 historical 8,529 #513
1901 historical 9,752 #540
1911 historical 8,035 #629
1997 modern 11,265 #544
1998 modern 11,736 #540
1999 modern 11,881 #539
2000 modern 11,864 #536
2001 modern 11,545 #537
2002 modern 11,756 #537
2003 modern 11,567 #537
2004 modern 11,493 #539
2005 modern 11,350 #543
2006 modern 11,375 #542
2007 modern 11,454 #543
2008 modern 11,549 #542
2009 modern 11,876 #541
2010 modern 12,204 #540
2011 modern 11,919 #547
2012 modern 11,692 #553
2013 modern 11,909 #553
2014 modern 11,904 #557
2015 modern 11,811 #555
2016 modern 11,744 #556

Geography

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Where Smalls are most common

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

The modern local-area list points to Douglas West, Lewes, South Staffordshire, Rother and Sandwell. 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 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Edinburgh Edinburgh
5 Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry Forfar

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Douglas West Dundee City
2 Lewes 003 Lewes
3 South Staffordshire 003 South Staffordshire
4 Rother 005 Rother
5 Sandwell 005 Sandwell

Forenames

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First names often paired with Small

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Small

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

Ageing Communities

Nationally, the Small surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Ageing Communities, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Small household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many residents are of normal retirement age or above and live in communal establishments, and there are few dependent children. The dominant property type is a mix of retirement flats and detached houses. Those in work are likely to be employed in managerial and professional occupations, and many residents are educated to degree level. Levels of owner occupation are high, but the private rental sector is also present. Rural locations predominate.

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

Social Rented Sector and Diverse Origins

Within London, Small is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector and Diverse Origins, 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

Scattered across London’s Inner and Outer suburbs, residents of these neighbourhoods are typically housed in the social rented sector. Although terraced and semi-detached houses predominate, more residents live in flats than elsewhere in the Supergroup. Neighbourhoods are more ethnically diverse than the Supergroup average. Those identifying as of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and some Black ethnicities are more prevalent. Europeans born in a overseas non-EU countries make up more of the lower proportion of residents identifying as White. Few residents are very old (85+). Employment in distribution, hotels and restaurants is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

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

Small is most concentrated in decile 10 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.

10
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Small 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 Small 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 Small, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Small

The surname "SMALL" is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "smæl," meaning "slender" or "thin." This name was initially used as a descriptive nickname to distinguish individuals who were of a slight or diminutive stature.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname "SMALL" can be traced back to the 13th century in various parts of England, particularly in the counties of Somerset, Dorset, and Wiltshire. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was William le Smale, mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror, there are references to several place names that may have contributed to the formation of the surname "SMALL." For example, the village of Smalebrook in Derbyshire and the manor of Smaleho in Wiltshire are mentioned.

During the Middle Ages, the surname "SMALL" appeared in various spellings, including Smale, Smalle, and Smaley, reflecting the lack of standardized spelling conventions at the time. Some notable bearers of this surname from this period include Sir John Smale, a member of the English Parliament in the 14th century, and William Smalle, a merchant who lived in London in the 15th century.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname "SMALL" continued to be well-represented in various records and documents. One prominent figure was Edward Small, a renowned English writer and poet who lived from 1585 to 1675. Another notable bearer of this surname was Sir Bartholomew Small, a successful merchant and Lord Mayor of London in the early 17th century.

As the centuries progressed, the surname "SMALL" spread across England and eventually to other parts of the world, including the American colonies. One notable American bearer of this surname was John Small, a Revolutionary War soldier and early settler in the state of Maine, who lived from 1738 to 1818.

Other notable individuals with the surname "SMALL" include Sir John Small, a British naval officer and colonial administrator in the late 18th century, and Albion Woodbury Small, an American sociologist and educator who founded the American Sociological Society in the late 19th century, born in 1854 and died in 1926.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Small families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Small 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 780 Smalls recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.05x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 780 1.05x
Angus 597 8.69x
Staffordshire 441 1.76x
Hampshire 423 2.78x
Somerset 372 3.12x
Surrey 351 0.97x
Lanarkshire 346 1.44x
Lancashire 329 0.37x
Kent 328 1.30x
Midlothian 263 2.65x
Devon 262 1.70x
Yorkshire 242 0.33x
Durham 239 1.08x
Perthshire 224 6.73x
Warwickshire 204 1.09x
Worcestershire 160 1.65x
Sussex 145 1.16x
Buckinghamshire 118 2.63x
Gloucestershire 110 0.76x
Shropshire 106 1.66x
Fife 104 2.37x
Renfrewshire 104 1.81x
Lincolnshire 91 0.77x
Northumberland 91 0.83x
Wiltshire 91 1.39x
Cheshire 73 0.45x
Dorset 70 1.44x
Stirlingshire 67 2.45x
Monmouthshire 60 1.12x
Essex 53 0.36x
Cumberland 52 0.81x
Glamorgan 50 0.39x
Nottinghamshire 45 0.45x
Aberdeenshire 44 0.64x
Kinross-shire 37 19.75x
Bedfordshire 36 0.94x
Herefordshire 36 1.18x
Ayrshire 32 0.58x
Leicestershire 32 0.39x
Berkshire 31 0.56x
Cornwall 30 0.36x
Derbyshire 27 0.23x
Peeblesshire 26 7.46x
Selkirkshire 26 3.88x
Oxfordshire 25 0.55x
Dunbartonshire 24 1.21x
Kincardineshire 16 1.77x
West Lothian 16 1.43x
Caithness 15 1.48x
Norfolk 15 0.13x
Northamptonshire 15 0.22x
Roxburghshire 14 1.04x
Argyllshire 11 0.53x
Hertfordshire 10 0.20x
Wigtownshire 9 0.91x
Buteshire 8 1.78x
Royal Navy 8 0.91x
Suffolk 8 0.09x
Berwickshire 7 0.78x
Denbighshire 7 0.25x
East Lothian 7 0.71x
Cambridgeshire 6 0.13x
Channel Islands 5 0.23x
Nairnshire 5 2.21x
Pembrokeshire 5 0.21x
Flintshire 4 0.20x
Dumfriesshire 2 0.12x
Banffshire 1 0.07x
Clackmannanshire 1 0.16x
Inverness-shire 1 0.05x
Morayshire 1 0.09x
Orkney 1 0.12x
Ross-shire 1 0.05x
Rutland 1 0.18x
Westmorland 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. Dundee in Angus leads with 255 Smalls recorded in 1881 and an index of 9.95x.

Place Total Index
Dundee 255 9.95x
Liff Benvie 164 15.73x
Islington London 119 1.66x
Barony 113 1.86x
Birmingham 103 1.65x
Govan 100 1.69x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 87 2.18x
Darlaston 79 22.85x
Lambeth 74 1.15x
Aston 70 1.36x
St Pancras London 70 1.17x
Portsea 69 2.32x
South Stoneham 68 20.63x
Walsall Foreign 63 4.87x
Chelsea London 51 2.28x
Newington 50 1.83x
Scone 49 82.92x
Wednesbury 49 7.84x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 41 3.00x
Hackney London 40 0.96x
Toxteth Park 40 1.34x
Glasgow 39 0.92x
Liverpool 39 0.73x
St George Hanover 39 4.03x
Stonehouse 38 46.73x
High Ham 36 126.58x
Monifieth 36 14.84x
St Marylebone London 36 0.91x
Westoe 34 2.72x
Bedminster 32 2.85x
Bishopwearmouth 31 1.64x
Manchester 31 0.78x
St Andrews 31 15.53x
Stoke Damerel 31 2.87x
Edinburgh St Georges 30 14.56x
Coupar Angus 29 44.64x
Ealing 28 4.23x
South Leith 27 2.42x
West Bromwich 27 1.89x
West Greenock 27 2.62x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 26 2.02x
Madeley 26 11.07x
Mile End Old Town 26 2.22x
Battersea 25 0.92x
Bramshott 25 66.72x
Haddenham 25 67.95x
Kensington London 25 0.61x
Stoke Upon Trent 25 0.94x
Westminster St John 25 2.77x
Workington 25 6.84x
Fulham London 24 2.23x
Gateshead 24 1.45x
Camberwell 23 0.49x
Christchurch 23 13.88x
Paddington London 23 0.84x
Southampton St Mary 23 2.41x
Alva 22 16.87x
Himbleton 22 189.33x
Farnham 21 7.48x
Sedgley 21 2.26x
Blairgowrie 20 15.20x
Edinburgh Buccleuch 20 8.52x
Greenwich 20 1.70x
Ringwood 20 20.58x
Stanley Cum Wrenthorpe 20 5.86x
Bromley London 19 1.17x
Deptford St Paul 19 0.97x
Galashiels 19 7.66x
Harborne 19 2.37x
Isleworth 19 5.77x
Selborne 19 61.43x
Sutton Coldfield 19 9.67x
West Ham 19 0.59x
Great Bolton 18 1.55x
Reigate Borough 18 21.61x
Salehurst 18 33.26x
Sidbury 18 54.50x
Stockport 18 2.14x
Brixham 17 9.51x
Widnes 17 2.68x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 370
Elizabeth 205
Sarah 166
Ellen 104
Jane 98
Ann 91
Emma 87
Eliza 85
Alice 77
Annie 73
Emily 68
Margaret 54
Hannah 50
Edith 49
Martha 45
Maria 39
Louisa 38
Charlotte 37
Catherine 32
Fanny 32
Harriet 32
Florence 31
Ada 29
Kate 29
Caroline 27
Isabella 23
Susan 23
Frances 21
Rose 21
Harriett 20
Esther 19
Jessie 18
Sophia 18
Agnes 17
Clara 17
Lucy 17
Amelia 16
Lydia 16
Anne 13
Julia 13
Rebecca 13
Bridget 12
Matilda 12
Laura 11
Minnie 10
Eleanor 9
Gertrude 9
Grace 9
Miriam 9
Rhoda 9

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 372
John 295
James 206
Thomas 182
George 177
Charles 126
Henry 125
Joseph 89
Samuel 67
Robert 66
Edward 65
Alfred 63
Albert 54
Arthur 54
Richard 54
Frederick 52
Frank 38
Walter 34
David 32
Harry 31
Benjamin 26
Edwin 26
Francis 24
Herbert 22
Ernest 21
Peter 21
Michael 16
Isaac 14
Wm. 14
Sidney 13
Fred 12
Patrick 12
Daniel 11
Alexander 9
Stephen 9
Horace 8
Geo. 7
Percy 7
Earnest 6
Nicholas 6
Bernard 5
Chas. 5
Leonard 5
Saml. 5
Sydney 5
Ben 4
Fredk. 4
Fredrick 4
Mathew 4
Oliver 4

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 Small households.

FAQ

Small surname: questions and answers

How common was the Small surname in 1881?

In 1881, 7,628 people were recorded with the Small surname. That placed it at #560 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Small surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 11,744 in 2016. That gives Small a modern rank of #556.

What does the Small surname mean?

An English topographic name for someone who lived near a narrow or small road, path, or bridge.

What does the Small map show?

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