NameCensus.

UK surname

Stanway

In the 1881 census there were 834 people recorded with the Stanway surname, ranking it #4,517 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 1,363, ranked #4,422, up from #4,517 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Biddulph, Prestbury and Wolstanton. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Staffordshire Moorlands, Cheshire East and Stoke-on-Trent.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Stanway is 1,516 in 1998. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 63.4%.

1881 census count

834

Ranked #4,517

Modern count

1,363

2016, ranked #4,422

Peak year

1998

1,516 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Stanway had 834 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #4,517 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 1,363 in 2016, ranked #4,422.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 1,255 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Stanway surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Stanway surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Stanway 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 510 #4,903
1861 historical 465 #5,591
1881 historical 834 #4,517
1891 historical 938 #4,415
1901 historical 1,127 #4,302
1911 historical 1,255 #3,789
1997 modern 1,200 #4,707
1998 modern 1,516 #4,011
1999 modern 1,492 #4,109
2000 modern 1,506 #4,052
2001 modern 1,452 #4,099
2002 modern 1,470 #4,136
2003 modern 1,435 #4,140
2004 modern 1,429 #4,157
2005 modern 1,402 #4,183
2006 modern 1,407 #4,177
2007 modern 1,420 #4,184
2008 modern 1,415 #4,221
2009 modern 1,422 #4,282
2010 modern 1,447 #4,300
2011 modern 1,434 #4,289
2012 modern 1,375 #4,363
2013 modern 1,397 #4,381
2014 modern 1,394 #4,408
2015 modern 1,373 #4,417
2016 modern 1,363 #4,422

Geography

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Where Stanways are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Biddulph, Prestbury, Wolstanton, Burslem and Manchester. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Staffordshire Moorlands, Cheshire East and Stoke-on-Trent. 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 Biddulph Cheshire
2 Prestbury Cheshire
3 Wolstanton Staffordshire
4 Burslem Staffordshire
5 Manchester Lancashire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Staffordshire Moorlands 002 Staffordshire Moorlands
2 Cheshire East 026 Cheshire East
3 Cheshire East 027 Cheshire East
4 Stoke-on-Trent 001 Stoke-on-Trent
5 Staffordshire Moorlands 004 Staffordshire Moorlands

Forenames

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First names often paired with Stanway

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Stanway

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

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Stanway is most associated with areas classed as Inner London Working Professionals, 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

These primarily Inner London neighbourhoods are more densely populated than the Supergroup average. Residents have a younger over-all age profile than the Supergroup as a whole, and are less likely to be owner occupiers. Full time employment is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup and multiple car ownership is uncommon. Chinese and non-EU-born European migrants are less in evidence than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

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

Stanway is most concentrated in decile 3 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the less healthy 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.

3
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Stanway falls in decile 9 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the less deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

9
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Stanway families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Stanway 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. Staffordshire leads with 396 Stanways recorded in 1881 and an index of 14.44x.

County Total Index
Staffordshire 396 14.44x
Cheshire 236 13.16x
Lancashire 56 0.58x
Shropshire 26 3.70x
Surrey 22 0.56x
Nottinghamshire 13 1.19x
Middlesex 11 0.14x
Derbyshire 9 0.71x
Yorkshire 9 0.11x
Herefordshire 7 2.10x
Essex 6 0.37x
Warwickshire 6 0.29x
Lanarkshire 5 0.19x
Somerset 5 0.38x
Worcestershire 5 0.47x
Hampshire 3 0.18x
Kent 3 0.11x
Montgomeryshire 3 1.61x
Cornwall 2 0.22x
Durham 2 0.08x
Gloucestershire 2 0.13x
Suffolk 2 0.20x
Northamptonshire 1 0.13x
Royal Navy 1 1.03x
Sussex 1 0.07x
Wiltshire 1 0.14x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Stoke Upon Trent in Staffordshire leads with 115 Stanways recorded in 1881 and an index of 39.54x.

Place Total Index
Stoke Upon Trent 115 39.54x
Biddulph 97 626.62x
Macclesfield 62 77.76x
Wolstanton 46 55.22x
Horton 41 1220.24x
Burslem 29 36.91x
Congleton 25 80.67x
Newton In Northwich 23 421.25x
Buglawton 16 370.37x
Walsall Foreign 16 11.29x
Newcastle Under Lyme 13 26.79x
Birkenhead 12 8.39x
Runcorn 11 26.60x
Sedgley 10 9.82x
Buerton In Nantwich 9 687.02x
Mansfield 9 23.75x
Gawsworth 8 487.80x
Hulme 8 3.97x
Kinderton Cum Hulme 8 529.80x
Marton In Prestbury 8 930.23x
Newington 8 2.67x
Warrington 8 7.00x
Dawley 7 27.40x
Kington 7 84.85x
Leek Lowe 7 19.18x
Wolverhampton 7 3.32x
Hartington Upper 6 98.85x
Madeley 6 23.31x
Manchester 6 1.38x
Odd Rode 6 67.57x
Barony 5 0.75x
Bermondsey 5 2.07x
Bishops Hull 5 118.20x
Elton 5 15.01x
Hammerwich 5 128.53x
Meltham 5 39.94x
Tranmere 5 7.59x
Weaverham Cum Milton 5 105.49x
Wincham 5 151.06x
Windle 5 9.22x
Camberwell 4 0.77x
Chelmsford 4 14.53x
Dukinfield 4 4.83x
Moss Side 4 7.88x
Newchurch 4 5.07x
Sutton In Macclesfield 4 21.49x
Beswick 3 12.17x
Chorlton On Medlock 3 1.96x
Fairfield 3 35.25x
Hadnall 3 202.70x
Kensington London 3 0.66x
Kerry 3 53.57x
Middlewich 3 81.30x
Rugby 3 10.82x
Wharton 3 30.71x
Woodborough 3 121.46x
Worcester St Peter 3 14.93x
Aston 2 0.35x
Betchton 2 86.96x
Bures St Mary 2 82.99x
Colchester St Botolph 2 14.66x
Dudley 2 1.55x
Gloucester St Nicholas 2 27.10x
Hornsey 2 1.95x
Lambeth 2 0.28x
Mobberley 2 48.90x
North Rode 2 273.97x
Northfleet 2 8.19x
Openshaw 2 4.43x
Otley 2 10.23x
Rushton James 2 270.27x
Sale 2 9.09x
Shifnal 2 10.49x
Southwark St George Martyr 2 1.22x
St Bartholomew Great 2 27.06x
St Columb Minor 2 25.91x
Stretford 2 3.77x
Wem 2 19.16x
Whitchurch 2 14.68x
Widnes 2 2.88x

Top female names

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

Name Count
William 55
John 53
Thomas 33
James 27
Joseph 26
George 25
Samuel 17
Henry 14
Richard 10
Edward 7
Charles 6
Herbert 6
Ralph 6
Thos. 6
Albert 5
Alfred 5
Frank 5
Frederick 5
Josiah 5
Noah 5
Abraham 4
Arthur 4
David 4
Allen 3
Enoch 3
Ernest 3
Harry 3
Mark 3
Robert 3
Walter 3
Wm. 3
Isaac 2
Job 2
Joel 2
Moses 2
Peter 2
Simon 2
Stephen 2
Tom 2
Alfd. 1
Bernard 1
Bertram 1
Chas. 1
Francis 1
Fred 1
Harriett 1
Leonard 1
Levi 1
Lewes 1
Luke 1

FAQ

Stanway surname: questions and answers

How common was the Stanway surname in 1881?

In 1881, 834 people were recorded with the Stanway surname. That placed it at #4,517 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Stanway surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 1,363 in 2016. That gives Stanway a modern rank of #4,422.

What does the Stanway map show?

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