NameCensus.

UK surname

Suffolk

In the 1881 census there were 323 people recorded with the Suffolk surname, ranking it #9,240 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 398, ranked #11,924, down from #9,240 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, London parishes and Hinckley (incl. Hydes Pastures). In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Leicester, Charnwood and Nuneaton and Bedworth.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Suffolk is 440 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 23.2%.

1881 census count

323

Ranked #9,240

Modern count

398

2016, ranked #11,924

Peak year

1999

440 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Suffolk had 323 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #9,240 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 398 in 2016, ranked #11,924.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 439 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Suffolk surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Suffolk surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Suffolk 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 236 #9,174
1861 historical 268 #9,274
1881 historical 323 #9,240
1891 historical 357 #9,678
1901 historical 395 #9,562
1911 historical 439 #8,671
1997 modern 420 #10,608
1998 modern 436 #10,663
1999 modern 440 #10,648
2000 modern 436 #10,701
2001 modern 436 #10,500
2002 modern 437 #10,693
2003 modern 415 #10,962
2004 modern 415 #10,989
2005 modern 418 #10,812
2006 modern 417 #10,886
2007 modern 409 #11,182
2008 modern 401 #11,441
2009 modern 407 #11,556
2010 modern 428 #11,352
2011 modern 422 #11,359
2012 modern 413 #11,451
2013 modern 408 #11,740
2014 modern 408 #11,830
2015 modern 399 #11,928
2016 modern 398 #11,924

Geography

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Where Suffolks are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, London parishes, Hinckley (incl. Hydes Pastures), Nuneaton and Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Leicester, Charnwood, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Wigan. 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 Hinckley (incl. Hydes Pastures) Leicestershire
4 Nuneaton Warwickshire
5 Leicester St Margaret and Bishop's Fee, Leicester All Saints, Blackfriars Leicestershire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Leicester 003 Leicester
2 Charnwood 014 Charnwood
3 Nuneaton and Bedworth 002 Nuneaton and Bedworth
4 Nuneaton and Bedworth 006 Nuneaton and Bedworth
5 Wigan 020 Wigan

Forenames

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First names often paired with Suffolk

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Suffolk

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

Established Homeowners with Children

Within London, Suffolk is most associated with areas classed as Established Homeowners with Children, 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 predominantly British-born residents are typically married/in civil partnerships and own the properties in which they are raising their children. Parents are typically over 45, and many other residents are beyond normal retirement age. Detached and semi-detached houses predominate and multiple car ownership is common.

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

Suffolk is most concentrated in decile 6 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.

6
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Suffolk falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

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

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Suffolk is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 60-70 mbit/s.

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

9
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

1881 census detail

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Suffolk families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Suffolk 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. Warwickshire leads with 90 Suffolks recorded in 1881 and an index of 11.33x.

County Total Index
Warwickshire 90 11.33x
Leicestershire 64 18.32x
Norfolk 41 8.46x
Nottinghamshire 34 8.01x
Middlesex 23 0.73x
Staffordshire 22 2.07x
Surrey 17 1.11x
Durham 7 0.75x
Lancashire 5 0.13x
Devon 4 0.61x
Kent 3 0.28x
Berkshire 2 0.85x
Derbyshire 2 0.41x
Hertfordshire 2 0.92x
Wiltshire 2 0.72x
Bedfordshire 1 0.61x
Essex 1 0.16x
Gloucestershire 1 0.16x
Worcestershire 1 0.24x
Yorkshire 1 0.03x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Nuneaton in Warwickshire leads with 40 Suffolks recorded in 1881 and an index of 434.78x.

Place Total Index
Nuneaton 40 434.78x
Leicester St Margaret 23 27.00x
Heigham 20 76.92x
Hinckley 14 168.88x
Birmingham 12 4.53x
Leicester All Sts 12 174.93x
Cannock 11 59.27x
Lenton 11 110.00x
Coventry Holy Trinity 10 42.16x
Aston 9 4.11x
Nottingham St Mary 9 8.19x
Lambeth 8 2.91x
Bradfield 7 2800.00x
Paddington London 7 6.04x
Bermondsey 6 6.40x
Chilvers Coton 6 183.49x
Norwich St Stephen 6 134.83x
Radford 6 27.82x
Rushall 6 95.85x
Dawdon 5 43.37x
Edgbaston 5 20.29x
Leicester Black Friars 5 220.26x
Barnstaple 4 38.87x
Hammersmith London 4 5.15x
Higham On The Hill 4 816.33x
North Walsham 4 114.61x
Camberwell 3 1.49x
Oldham 3 2.49x
Worksop 3 23.83x
Acton 2 10.83x
Baxterley 2 512.82x
Belgrave 2 25.38x
Bulwell 2 21.67x
Burbage 2 109.89x
Charlton 2 243.90x
Colwich 2 79.05x
Deptford St Paul 2 2.41x
Hedworth Monkton Jarrow 2 4.93x
Ilkeston 2 14.46x
Kineton 2 175.44x
Kingsbury 2 117.65x
Norwich St Peter Mancroft 2 82.30x
Nottingham St Nicholas 2 34.60x
Poplar London 2 3.36x
St Clement Danes 2 39.22x
St George Hanover 2 4.86x
Stoke Golding 2 338.98x
Sunninghill 2 60.98x
Ware 2 32.10x
Ashton Under Lyne 1 1.22x
Atherstone 1 24.63x
Beeston 1 20.49x
Bentham 1 42.02x
Burgh 1 416.67x
Hackney London 1 0.57x
Hickling 1 112.36x
Kensington London 1 0.57x
Lichfield St Mary 1 32.57x
Prestwich 1 10.72x
Shefford 1 86.21x
St Mary Le Strand 1 100.00x
St Marylebone London 1 0.59x
Walsall Foreign 1 1.82x
Wanstead 1 9.18x
Wilnecote 1 43.86x
Wolverhampton 1 1.22x
Woolwich 1 2.52x
Yardley 1 9.50x
Yate 1 74.07x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 37
Elizabeth 18
Sarah 11
Ellen 9
Ann 6
Clara 5
Hannah 5
Emma 4
Florence 4
Frances 4
Maria 4
Edith 3
Eliza 3
Emily 3
Julia 3
Martha 3
Annie 2
Bertha 2
Caroline 2
Eleanor 2
Harriett 2
Jane 2
Kate 2
Lucy 2
Alice 1
Amelia 1
Anna 1
Anne 1
Betsy 1
Charlotte 1
Clarissa 1
Ella 1
Esther 1
Gertrude 1
Harriet 1
Hermion 1
Ida 1
Isabella 1
Isabelle 1
Leah 1
Lilias 1
Lizzie 1
Louisa 1
Madeleine 1
Margaret 1
Margret 1
Marthe 1
Matilda 1
Millie 1
Naomi 1

Top male names

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

FAQ

Suffolk surname: questions and answers

How common was the Suffolk surname in 1881?

In 1881, 323 people were recorded with the Suffolk surname. That placed it at #9,240 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Suffolk surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 398 in 2016. That gives Suffolk a modern rank of #11,924.

What does the Suffolk map show?

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