NameCensus.

UK surname

Tiffen

In the 1881 census there were 251 people recorded with the Tiffen surname, ranking it #11,041 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 270, ranked #15,913, down from #11,041 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Wigton, London parishes and Boxford, Groton. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Allerdale, Chelmsford and County Durham.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Tiffen is 325 in 1901. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 7.6%.

1881 census count

251

Ranked #11,041

Modern count

270

2016, ranked #15,913

Peak year

1901

325 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Tiffen had 251 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #11,041 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 270 in 2016, ranked #15,913.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 325 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Tiffen surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Tiffen surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Tiffen 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 202 #10,323
1861 historical 149 #15,373
1881 historical 251 #11,041
1891 historical 270 #12,027
1901 historical 325 #11,017
1911 historical 305 #11,307
1997 modern 278 #14,210
1998 modern 278 #14,620
1999 modern 278 #14,705
2000 modern 282 #14,532
2001 modern 273 #14,614
2002 modern 281 #14,619
2003 modern 278 #14,540
2004 modern 276 #14,684
2005 modern 260 #15,250
2006 modern 264 #15,170
2007 modern 255 #15,687
2008 modern 258 #15,732
2009 modern 267 #15,661
2010 modern 276 #15,637
2011 modern 266 #15,937
2012 modern 263 #15,954
2013 modern 265 #16,138
2014 modern 275 #15,831
2015 modern 272 #15,851
2016 modern 270 #15,913

Geography

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Where Tiffens are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Wigton, London parishes, Boxford, Groton, Stoke by Nayland, Assington, Wissington, Nayland and Halstead. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Allerdale, Chelmsford, County Durham, Braintree and Carlisle. 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 Wigton Cumberland
2 London parishes London 3
3 Boxford, Groton Suffolk
4 Stoke by Nayland, Assington, Wissington, Nayland Suffolk
5 Halstead Essex

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Allerdale 001 Allerdale
2 Chelmsford 003 Chelmsford
3 County Durham 007 County Durham
4 Braintree 018 Braintree
5 Carlisle 004 Carlisle

Forenames

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First names often paired with Tiffen

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Tiffen

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

Young Families and Mainstream Employment

Group

Social Rented Sector and Diverse Origins

Within London, Tiffen 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

Tiffen is most concentrated in decile 4 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.

4
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Tiffen falls in decile 8 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.

8
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

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

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

1881 census detail

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Tiffen families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Tiffen 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. Cumberland leads with 58 Tiffens recorded in 1881 and an index of 27.74x.

County Total Index
Cumberland 58 27.74x
Suffolk 55 18.59x
Middlesex 34 1.40x
Essex 31 6.47x
Kent 19 2.29x
Surrey 10 0.85x
Shropshire 7 3.34x
Durham 6 0.83x
Warwickshire 6 0.98x
Sussex 5 1.22x
Wiltshire 4 1.86x
Yorkshire 4 0.17x
Norfolk 3 0.80x
Perthshire 2 1.83x
Cheshire 1 0.19x
Gloucestershire 1 0.21x
Hertfordshire 1 0.60x
Midlothian 1 0.31x
Northumberland 1 0.28x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Caldewgate in Cumberland leads with 19 Tiffens recorded in 1881 and an index of 165.79x.

Place Total Index
Caldewgate 19 165.79x
Wigton 13 414.01x
Newton 12 3243.24x
Great Cornard 8 1194.03x
Springfield 8 380.95x
Greenwich 7 18.10x
Maidstone 7 28.36x
Shrewsbury Holy Cross 7 301.72x
Birmingham 6 2.94x
Boxford 6 1090.91x
Hackney London 6 4.41x
Halstead 6 107.33x
King Moor 6 1500.00x
Lambeth 6 2.83x
Bethnal Green London 5 4.74x
Framwellgate 5 116.82x
Groton 5 1282.05x
Mile End Old Town 5 13.04x
Preston 5 69.93x
Prittlewell 5 75.30x
St Cuthbert Within 5 206.61x
St Pancras London 5 2.56x
Sudbury St Gregory 5 210.97x
West Ham 5 4.72x
Cockermouth 4 90.91x
Nayland 4 533.33x
Salisbury St Thomas 4 235.29x
Sculcoates 4 10.48x
Westwell 4 481.93x
Hadleigh 3 104.53x
Hayton 3 252.10x
Maldon All Sts 3 315.79x
St Cuthbert W O 3 29.44x
Wiggenhall St Mary 3 517.24x
Beyton 2 714.29x
Clerkenwell London 2 3.49x
Colchester St Botolph 2 49.02x
Croydon 2 3.04x
Hessett 2 555.56x
Limehouse London 2 7.50x
Logie 2 51.15x
Rickergate 2 45.25x
Shoreditch London 2 1.90x
Spitalfields London 2 10.95x
St Andrew Holborn 2 24.30x
Stoke By Nayland 2 208.33x
Sudbury St Peter 2 123.46x
Assington 1 161.29x
Bellingham 1 163.93x
Birkenhead 1 2.34x
Camberwell 1 0.64x
Cirencester 1 15.50x
Deptford St Paul 1 1.56x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 1 0.76x
Grays Inn Staple Inn 1 322.58x
Hertford All Saints 1 106.38x
Heworth 1 7.02x
Kirkandrews Upon Eden 1 833.33x
Maldon St Peter 1 40.98x
Milden 1 666.67x
Polstead 1 144.93x
Seaton 1 40.98x
Southwark St George Martyr 1 2.05x
St George In East 1 6.05x
St Mary Within 1 38.31x
St Nicholas Cole Abbey 1 2500.00x
Stanningfield 1 454.55x
Witham 1 40.49x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Sarah 13
Elizabeth 12
Mary 10
Emma 6
Alice 5
Amelia 4
Edith 4
Maria 4
Ann 3
Eliza 3
Frances 3
Jane 3
Annie 2
Caroline 2
Catherine 2
Ellen 2
Emily 2
Louisa 2
Margaret 2
Martha 2
Maud 2
Sophia 2
Susan 2
Susannah 2
Ada 1
Amy 1
Anna 1
Cecelia 1
Charlotte 1
Charstin 1
Christina 1
Clara 1
Ebher 1
Ellie 1
Florence 1
Harriet 1
Harriett 1
Helene 1
Helenor 1
Hester 1
Iomogean 1
Jemima 1
Kate 1
Mahala 1
Margt. 1
Matilda 1
Nora 1
Pheobe 1
Rebecca 1
Ruth 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 16
William 15
Thomas 12
Joseph 9
Charles 8
Henry 6
George 5
Robert 5
Herbert 4
Walter 4
Arthur 3
James 3
Samuel 3
David 2
Edward 2
Richd. 2
Wm. 2
Albert 1
Alfred 1
Amos 1
Beeby 1
Benjamin 1
Christopher 1
Earl 1
Ebenezer 1
Edgar 1
Edwin 1
Ernest 1
Francis 1
Frank 1
Fredrick 1
Henery 1
Hugh 1
J.S. 1
Jacob 1
Josiah 1
Mark 1
Portus 1
Sydney 1
Tom 1
Wilfred 1
Wm.J. 1

FAQ

Tiffen surname: questions and answers

How common was the Tiffen surname in 1881?

In 1881, 251 people were recorded with the Tiffen surname. That placed it at #11,041 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Tiffen surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 270 in 2016. That gives Tiffen a modern rank of #15,913.

What does the Tiffen map show?

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