NameCensus.

UK surname

Tilsley

In the 1881 census there were 368 people recorded with the Tilsley surname, ranking it #8,454 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 447, ranked #10,857, down from #8,454 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Tref-Eglwys, Sheffield and Rugeley. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Cornwall, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Bromsgrove.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Tilsley is 516 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 21.5%.

1881 census count

368

Ranked #8,454

Modern count

447

2016, ranked #10,857

Peak year

1911

516 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Tilsley had 368 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #8,454 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 447 in 2016, ranked #10,857.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 516 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Tilsley surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Tilsley surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Tilsley 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 280 #8,043
1861 historical 266 #9,318
1881 historical 368 #8,454
1891 historical 406 #8,765
1901 historical 478 #8,329
1911 historical 516 #7,651
1997 modern 397 #11,068
1998 modern 480 #9,909
1999 modern 472 #10,083
2000 modern 459 #10,261
2001 modern 449 #10,254
2002 modern 452 #10,408
2003 modern 433 #10,614
2004 modern 447 #10,369
2005 modern 436 #10,457
2006 modern 433 #10,564
2007 modern 428 #10,766
2008 modern 438 #10,668
2009 modern 464 #10,407
2010 modern 459 #10,739
2011 modern 445 #10,880
2012 modern 428 #11,092
2013 modern 442 #10,997
2014 modern 450 #10,902
2015 modern 450 #10,819
2016 modern 447 #10,857

Geography

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Where Tilsleys are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Tref-Eglwys, Sheffield, Rugeley, Bromsgrove, Upton Warren and Birmingham Town: Birmingham. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Cornwall, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Bromsgrove, Powys and Tamworth. 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 Tref-Eglwys Montgomeryshire
2 Sheffield Yorkshire, West Riding
3 Rugeley Staffordshire
4 Bromsgrove, Upton Warren Worcestershire
5 Birmingham Town: Birmingham Warwickshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Cornwall 002 Cornwall
2 Newcastle-under-Lyme 012 Newcastle-under-Lyme
3 Bromsgrove 013 Bromsgrove
4 Powys 005 Powys
5 Tamworth 003 Tamworth

Forenames

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First names often paired with Tilsley

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Tilsley

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

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Tilsley 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

Tilsley 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

Tilsley falls in decile 7 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.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

1881 census detail

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Tilsley families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Tilsley 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 80 Tilsleys recorded in 1881 and an index of 6.62x.

County Total Index
Staffordshire 80 6.62x
Montgomeryshire 53 64.61x
Warwickshire 44 4.87x
Lancashire 39 0.92x
Cheshire 33 4.18x
Middlesex 29 0.81x
Worcestershire 28 5.99x
Yorkshire 15 0.42x
Somerset 10 1.74x
Shropshire 9 2.91x
Derbyshire 7 1.25x
Glamorgan 7 1.12x
Surrey 5 0.29x
Gloucestershire 3 0.43x
Dorset 1 0.43x
Hampshire 1 0.14x
Kent 1 0.08x
Sussex 1 0.17x
Wiltshire 1 0.32x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Nantwich in Cheshire leads with 26 Tilsleys recorded in 1881 and an index of 283.22x.

Place Total Index
Nantwich 26 283.22x
Aston 21 8.45x
Tref Eglwys 20 892.86x
Bromsgrove 15 95.36x
Islington London 14 4.03x
Llanidloes 14 230.26x
Harborne 13 33.57x
Birmingham 12 3.99x
Stoke Upon Trent 11 8.58x
Brightside Bierlow 10 14.37x
Rugeley 10 115.34x
Walcot 10 32.58x
Shoreditch London 8 5.16x
Wolstanton Chesterton 8 129.45x
Ashton Under Lyne 7 7.54x
Cardiff St Mary 7 20.39x
Burslem 6 17.33x
Gorton 6 15.03x
Llanwnog 6 350.88x
Warrington 6 11.91x
Warwick St Mary 6 76.53x
Wolverhampton 6 6.46x
Dudley 5 8.80x
Hartshorn 5 235.85x
Rowley Regis 5 14.85x
Widnes 5 16.32x
Berriew 4 176.99x
Hammersmith London 4 4.54x
Kings Norton 4 9.54x
Manchester 4 2.09x
Middleton In Oldham 4 31.40x
Monks Coppenhall 4 13.41x
Pool 4 64.62x
Sheffield 4 3.54x
Stone 4 25.87x
Bilston 3 12.81x
Broughton In Salford 3 7.72x
Chorlton 3 638.30x
Moreton In Marsh 3 170.45x
Newtown 3 57.14x
St Pancras London 3 1.04x
Barrow In Furness 2 3.46x
Blymhill 2 322.58x
Clapham 2 4.47x
Drayton In Hales 2 31.35x
Ercall Magna 2 90.50x
Ipsley 2 120.48x
North Meols 2 4.81x
Oldbury 2 8.70x
Oswestry Town 2 20.20x
Sedgley 2 4.46x
Walsall Foreign 2 3.20x
Walton On Thames 2 24.97x
Willaston In Nantwich 2 81.97x
Aston Cantlow 1 74.07x
Beaminster 1 38.31x
Beard Ollerset Whitle 1 27.10x
Chester St John Baptist 1 7.04x
Chirbury 1 54.95x
Devizes St James 1 23.75x
Edgbaston 1 3.57x
Farnborough 1 12.97x
Handsworth 1 3.36x
Kidderminster Foreign 1 15.13x
Litchurch 1 4.43x
Llanllwchaiarn 1 28.17x
Mucklestone 1 86.21x
Newcastle Under Lyme 1 4.68x
Newington 1 0.76x
Newport 1 26.81x
Penstrowed 1 625.00x
Rotherham 1 5.00x
Sevenoaks 1 10.10x
Shrewsbury St Mary 1 8.20x
Standon 1 227.27x
Waldron 1 60.98x
Warwick St Nicholas 1 15.11x
Whistones 1 29.59x
Wolstanton Knutton 1 13.55x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 33
Sarah 16
Elizabeth 15
Ann 9
Jane 9
Catherine 6
Agnes 5
Caroline 5
Emma 5
Annie 4
Eliza 4
Florence 4
Hannah 4
Alice 3
Clara 3
Ellen 3
Emily 3
Fanny 3
Harriet 3
Margaret 3
Amelia 2
Edith 2
Esther 2
Frances 2
Laura 2
Lizzie 2
Louisa 2
Lucy 2
Maria 2
Martha 2
Susan 2
Teresa 2
Christianna 1
Dolores 1
Elizth. 1
Elizth.S. 1
Emna 1
Eva 1
Evangeline 1
Francis 1
Grace 1
Helen 1
Isabella 1
Janet 1
Jassie 1
Julia 1
Kate 1
Lenora 1
Margt.R.C. 1
Mina 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
John 23
William 22
Henry 14
Thomas 13
James 12
George 10
David 9
Charles 8
Joseph 6
Benjamin 5
Edward 5
Richard 5
Albert 4
Robert 4
Edwin 2
Hugh 2
Job 2
Jonathan 2
Samuel 2
Walter 2
Alfred 1
Arthur 1
Clifford 1
Daniel 1
Earnest 1
Ernest 1
Frank 1
Frederic 1
Frederick 1
Gerald 1
Herbert 1
Horatio 1
Robt.Willm.Sturkey 1
Thos. 1
Timothy 1
Tom 1
Wilfred 1
Willm.F. 1
Willm.F.C. 1
Wm. 1

FAQ

Tilsley surname: questions and answers

How common was the Tilsley surname in 1881?

In 1881, 368 people were recorded with the Tilsley surname. That placed it at #8,454 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Tilsley surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 447 in 2016. That gives Tilsley a modern rank of #10,857.

What does the Tilsley map show?

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