NameCensus.

UK surname

Swannell

In the 1881 census there were 323 people recorded with the Swannell surname, ranking it #9,240 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 419, ranked #11,445, down from #9,240 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Northampton St Giles, Northampton St Sepulchre, Northampton Priory and Felmersham. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Huntingdonshire, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Swannell is 545 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 29.7%.

1881 census count

323

Ranked #9,240

Modern count

419

2016, ranked #11,445

Peak year

1911

545 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Swannell had 323 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #9,240 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 419 in 2016, ranked #11,445.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 545 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Swannell surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Swannell surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Swannell 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 242 #9,001
1861 historical 217 #11,220
1881 historical 323 #9,240
1891 historical 441 #8,197
1901 historical 528 #7,740
1911 historical 545 #7,342
1997 modern 445 #10,154
1998 modern 458 #10,267
1999 modern 451 #10,435
2000 modern 443 #10,578
2001 modern 437 #10,482
2002 modern 434 #10,751
2003 modern 410 #11,061
2004 modern 409 #11,095
2005 modern 388 #11,437
2006 modern 388 #11,496
2007 modern 400 #11,374
2008 modern 406 #11,328
2009 modern 406 #11,586
2010 modern 410 #11,754
2011 modern 414 #11,533
2012 modern 407 #11,584
2013 modern 429 #11,280
2014 modern 416 #11,660
2015 modern 415 #11,583
2016 modern 419 #11,445

Geography

Back to top

Where Swannells are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Northampton St Giles, Northampton St Sepulchre, Northampton Priory, Felmersham and Flitton. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Huntingdonshire, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Dacorum. 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 London parishes London 1
2 London parishes London 3
3 Northampton St Giles, Northampton St Sepulchre, Northampton Priory Northamptonshire
4 Felmersham Bedfordshire
5 Flitton Bedfordshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Huntingdonshire 005 Huntingdonshire
2 Central Bedfordshire 016 Central Bedfordshire
3 Milton Keynes 002 Milton Keynes
4 Huntingdonshire 018 Huntingdonshire
5 Dacorum 018 Dacorum

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Swannell

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Swannell

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

Swannell is most concentrated in decile 5 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.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

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

1881 census detail

Back to top

Swannell families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Swannell 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 69 Swannells recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.21x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 69 2.21x
Bedfordshire 67 41.45x
Northamptonshire 33 11.24x
Hertfordshire 32 14.87x
Surrey 29 1.91x
Buckinghamshire 22 11.66x
Cambridgeshire 18 9.10x
Kent 12 1.13x
Yorkshire 12 0.39x
Hampshire 6 0.94x
Essex 4 0.65x
Huntingdonshire 3 4.84x
Worcestershire 3 0.74x
Derbyshire 2 0.41x
Norfolk 2 0.42x
Nottinghamshire 2 0.48x
Sussex 2 0.38x
Lancashire 1 0.03x
Rutland 1 4.36x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Felmersham in Bedfordshire leads with 23 Swannells recorded in 1881 and an index of 4423.08x.

Place Total Index
Felmersham 23 4423.08x
Silsoe 17 2328.77x
Stevenage 17 508.98x
Kensington London 15 8.64x
Camberwell 13 6.52x
Bethnal Green London 11 8.11x
Duston 10 375.94x
Gamlingay 8 388.35x
Weston Underwood 8 2105.26x
Wootton 8 571.43x
Bedford St Mary 7 168.27x
Bromley London 7 10.19x
Northampton St Sepulchre 7 46.85x
St Botolph Aldgate 7 164.32x
Wortley In Bramley 7 28.57x
Clerkenwell London 6 8.14x
Freshwater 6 205.48x
Hitchin 6 61.79x
Lambeth 6 2.20x
Putney 6 42.16x
Middlesbrough 5 12.41x
Passenham 5 413.22x
Rickmansworth 5 84.46x
Canterbury St Martin 4 1739.13x
Canterbury St Mary 4 55.94x
Deptford St Paul 4 4.87x
Harrow 4 83.86x
Little Kimble 4 2352.94x
Shenfield 4 250.00x
St George Hanover 4 9.82x
St Giles Cambridge 4 156.86x
Wellingborough 4 27.10x
Bedford St Peter 3 71.43x
Enfield 3 14.65x
Houghton Regis 3 116.28x
Shoreditch London 3 2.22x
Simpson 3 379.75x
St Peter Cambridge 3 454.55x
Streatham 3 12.95x
Worcester St Martin 3 54.55x
Cosgrove 2 294.12x
Derby St Peter 2 12.85x
Kempston 2 54.50x
Maulden 2 142.86x
Norwich St James 2 53.05x
Nottingham St Mary 2 1.84x
St Marylebone London 2 1.20x
St Pancras London 2 0.80x
Staines 2 40.49x
Towcester 2 66.01x
Warboys 2 111.73x
Wolverton 2 51.15x
Woughton On Green 2 800.00x
Chearsley 1 400.00x
Clophill 1 84.75x
Fen Drayton 1 270.27x
Garston 1 9.15x
Great Catworth 1 156.25x
Hammersmith London 1 1.30x
Hertford All Saints 1 83.33x
Hertford St Andrew 1 37.59x
Kettering 1 8.42x
Liddington 1 178.57x
Millbrook 1 344.83x
Northampton Priory St 1 5.68x
Northampton St Giles 1 8.94x
Penn 1 84.75x
Pirton 1 82.64x
Reigate Foreign 1 6.07x
South Mimms 1 23.36x
Storrington 1 69.44x
Subdeanery 1 25.06x
Swavesey 1 78.74x
Twickenham 1 7.47x
Wendy 1 666.67x
Weston 1 96.15x
Wycombe 1 7.11x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 24
Sarah 13
Elizabeth 10
Emma 10
Ann 8
Charlotte 6
Annie 5
Ellen 4
Emily 4
Hannah 4
Harriet 4
Maria 4
Martha 4
Alice 3
Anne 3
Clara 3
Amy 2
Catherine 2
Edith 2
Esther 2
Ethel 2
Jane 2
Kate 2
Louisa 2
Lucy 2
Margaret 2
Rebecca 2
Ruth 2
Anie 1
Barrabra 1
Cristiana 1
Dorcas 1
E. 1
Eliza 1
Elizer 1
Elvin 1
Ester 1
Florence 1
Helena 1
J. 1
Larua 1
Laura 1
Lizzie 1
Lydia 1
Maud 1
Naomi 1
Phoebe 1
Rosa 1
Rose 1
Violet 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 27
John 19
George 10
James 10
Charles 9
Henry 8
Alfred 7
Thomas 7
Samuel 6
Frederick 5
Arthur 4
Harry 4
Peter 3
Robert 3
Albert 2
Amos 2
Frank 2
Fred 2
Jesse 2
Walter 2
Abraham 1
Annie 1
Archibald 1
Bertram 1
Blair 1
David 1
Ebenezer 1
Edward 1
Edwin 1
Francis 1
Geo. 1
Geoge 1
H. 1
Herbert 1
Jabez 1
Jno. 1
Jonah 1
Joseph 1
Michael 1
Owen 1
Richard 1
Thos. 1
Willm. 1
Wm. 1

FAQ

Swannell surname: questions and answers

How common was the Swannell surname in 1881?

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

How common is the Swannell surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 419 in 2016. That gives Swannell a modern rank of #11,445.

What does the Swannell map show?

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