NameCensus.

UK surname

Turner

An occupational surname referring to a person who worked with a lathe to shape wood or metal objects.

In the 1881 census there were 83,267 people recorded with the Turner surname, ranking it #24 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 103,854, ranked #30, down from #24 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Rochdale, London parishes and Lambeth. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Kirklees, North East Derbyshire and Leeds.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Turner is 110,058 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 24.7%.

1881 census count

83,267

Ranked #24

Modern count

103,854

2016, ranked #30

Peak year

1999

110,058 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Turner had 83,267 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #24 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 103,854 in 2016, ranked #30.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 107,516 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Turner surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Turner surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Turner 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 54,268 #25
1861 historical 54,239 #27
1881 historical 83,267 #24
1891 historical 87,246 #24
1901 historical 102,040 #24
1911 historical 107,516 #22
1997 modern 105,558 #28
1998 modern 109,606 #28
1999 modern 110,058 #28
2000 modern 109,161 #28
2001 modern 106,435 #28
2002 modern 108,384 #28
2003 modern 105,434 #28
2004 modern 105,090 #28
2005 modern 102,828 #29
2006 modern 102,468 #29
2007 modern 103,038 #29
2008 modern 103,124 #29
2009 modern 105,404 #29
2010 modern 107,249 #29
2011 modern 105,803 #29
2012 modern 103,739 #29
2013 modern 105,602 #29
2014 modern 106,031 #29
2015 modern 104,704 #29
2016 modern 103,854 #30

Geography

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Where Turners are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Rochdale, London parishes, Lambeth and Sheffield. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Kirklees, North East Derbyshire, Leeds, Sheffield and Hartlepool. 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 Rochdale Lancashire
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Lambeth London (South Districts)
5 Sheffield Yorkshire, West Riding

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Kirklees 059 Kirklees
2 North East Derbyshire 009 North East Derbyshire
3 Leeds 110 Leeds
4 Sheffield 003 Sheffield
5 Hartlepool 002 Hartlepool

Forenames

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First names often paired with Turner

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Turner

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

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Turner is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. 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

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Turner is most concentrated in decile 7 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.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Turner falls in decile 6 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.

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

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

Meaning and origin of Turner

The surname Turner is an English occupational name that originated in the medieval period. It derives from the Old French word 'tourneor', which means 'one who turns or twists'. This refers to the occupation of a turner, someone who operated a lathe to shape wood, metal or other materials.

The earliest recorded use of the surname Turner dates back to the late 12th century in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire. It appears as 'Wibertus Tornur' in 1202. The name was also found in other early records, such as the Curia Regis Rolls of 1208, which mention 'Willelmus le Turner'.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are several references to places with 'turner' in their names, such as 'Torneburn' in Warwickshire and 'Torneberie' in Hertfordshire. These place names likely derived from the occupation of a turner living in those areas.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Turner was William Turner (c. 1510-1568), an English botanist and naturalist who is often referred to as the "Father of English Botany". He published several influential works on plants and their medicinal properties.

Another prominent Turner was Sir James Turner (1615-1686), a Scottish soldier and writer who served in the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil War. He wrote an important memoir titled "Pallas Armata", which provided insights into military tactics and strategies of the time.

In the arts, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was one of the most celebrated English Romantic painters. Known for his innovative use of light and color, he is considered one of the greatest landscape artists in history.

John Norman Turner (1829-1912) was a Canadian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada from 1892 to 1896. He played a significant role in promoting free trade and strengthening ties between Canada and the United States.

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was an African-American enslaved person who led a famous slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. Although the rebellion was ultimately suppressed, it became a powerful symbol in the abolitionist movement and the struggle against slavery.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Turner families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Turner 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. Lancashire leads with 11,591 Turners recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.20x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 11,591 1.20x
Yorkshire 9,871 1.22x
Middlesex 8,869 1.09x
Staffordshire 5,015 1.83x
Surrey 4,457 1.12x
Kent 2,938 1.06x
Essex 2,603 1.62x
Warwickshire 2,593 1.26x
Derbyshire 2,261 1.78x
Cheshire 1,962 1.09x
Sussex 1,750 1.28x
Suffolk 1,722 1.74x
Devon 1,711 1.01x
Gloucestershire 1,693 1.06x
Durham 1,636 0.68x
Nottinghamshire 1,503 1.37x
Worcestershire 1,468 1.38x
Norfolk 1,443 1.15x
Lincolnshire 1,275 0.98x
Hampshire 1,197 0.72x
Lanarkshire 1,125 0.43x
Somerset 988 0.75x
Northumberland 936 0.77x
Oxfordshire 790 1.57x
Shropshire 783 1.11x
Berkshire 756 1.24x
Hertfordshire 714 1.27x
Buckinghamshire 652 1.33x
Northamptonshire 636 0.83x
Cambridgeshire 632 1.23x
Wiltshire 609 0.85x
Leicestershire 562 0.62x
Cumberland 549 0.78x
Midlothian 529 0.49x
Herefordshire 488 1.46x
Glamorgan 446 0.32x
Renfrewshire 343 0.54x
Dorset 342 0.64x
Argyllshire 330 1.46x
Monmouthshire 326 0.55x
Bedfordshire 248 0.59x
Cornwall 239 0.26x
Ayrshire 188 0.31x
Fife 178 0.37x
Aberdeenshire 152 0.20x
Huntingdonshire 139 0.86x
Montgomeryshire 135 0.72x
Stirlingshire 130 0.43x
Denbighshire 122 0.40x
Westmorland 118 0.66x
Channel Islands 117 0.49x
Roxburghshire 115 0.78x
Selkirkshire 95 1.29x
Kirkcudbrightshire 87 0.74x
Perthshire 86 0.24x
East Lothian 81 0.75x
Dumfriesshire 79 0.44x
Dunbartonshire 79 0.36x
Flintshire 76 0.35x
Brecknockshire 75 0.46x
Royal Navy 75 0.77x
Angus 70 0.09x
Berwickshire 69 0.70x
Peeblesshire 69 1.80x
Radnorshire 69 1.05x
Wigtownshire 54 0.50x
Rutland 49 0.82x
Caernarfonshire 47 0.14x
Banffshire 45 0.27x
Isle of Man 30 0.20x
West Lothian 28 0.23x
Buteshire 27 0.55x
Pembrokeshire 19 0.07x
Clackmannanshire 14 0.21x
Kincardineshire 12 0.12x
Sutherland 11 0.18x
Carmarthenshire 8 0.02x
Anglesey 7 0.05x
Inverness-shire 7 0.03x
Merionethshire 4 0.03x
Orkney 4 0.04x
Ross-shire 4 0.02x
Kinross-shire 3 0.15x
Morayshire 2 0.02x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Birmingham in Warwickshire leads with 962 Turners recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.41x.

Place Total Index
Birmingham 962 1.41x
Islington London 941 1.19x
Lambeth 802 1.13x
Aston 780 1.38x
St Pancras London 683 1.04x
Hackney London 627 1.38x
Leeds 554 1.22x
Preston 546 2.11x
Camberwell 527 1.01x
Manchester 494 1.14x
Stoke Upon Trent 484 1.66x
St Marylebone London 469 1.08x
West Ham 464 1.31x
Kensington London 460 1.02x
Wolverhampton 458 2.17x
Oldham 422 1.35x
Sheffield 419 1.63x
Battersea 402 1.34x
Bethnal Green London 376 1.06x
Barony 353 0.53x
Mile End Old Town 344 2.68x
Ashton Under Lyne 343 1.63x
Liverpool 341 0.58x
Paddington London 341 1.14x
Salford 340 1.20x
Ecclesall Bierlow 309 1.89x
Bury 299 2.71x
Shoreditch London 295 0.84x
Blackburn 294 1.15x
Brighton 290 1.05x
Castleton 290 3.01x
Newington 286 0.95x
West Bromwich 285 1.81x
Sedgley 282 2.77x
Nether Hallam 281 2.58x
St George Hanover 280 2.64x
Portsea 277 0.85x
Nottingham St Mary 271 0.96x
Govan 270 0.42x
Dudley 264 2.04x
Spotland 262 2.44x
Hammersmith London 244 1.22x
West Derby 240 0.85x
Hulme 238 1.18x
Chelsea London 237 0.97x
Deptford St Paul 237 1.11x
Brightside Bierlow 236 1.49x
Croydon 231 1.05x
Bermondsey 228 0.94x
Halifax 224 1.89x
Wolstanton 217 2.60x
Toxteth Park 211 0.65x
Bromley London 203 1.13x
Barrow In Furness 202 1.54x
Greenwich 200 1.54x
Southwark St George Martyr 200 1.22x
Glasgow 199 0.43x
Holy Trinity 195 1.01x
Tipton 195 2.32x
Dukinfield 193 2.33x
Tottenham 190 1.47x
Cheltenham 189 1.54x
Bradford 186 0.95x
Everton 185 0.60x
Leicester St Margaret 184 0.84x
Poplar London 184 1.20x
Clerkenwell London 181 0.94x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 180 0.41x
Burslem 177 2.25x
Gateshead 174 0.96x
Wigan 174 1.29x
Chorlton On Medlock 172 1.12x
Hyde 169 3.19x
Stockport 167 1.81x
Chesterfield 166 3.48x
Wardleworth 164 2.97x
Willenhall 157 3.05x
Kirkdale 155 0.95x
Sculcoates 153 1.20x
Sutton In Ashfield 152 6.39x
Bow London 151 1.46x
Horton In Bradford 150 1.19x
St George In East 149 2.69x
Pendleton In Salford 147 1.28x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 5,295
Sarah 3,092
Elizabeth 3,048
Ann 1,580
Jane 1,442
Emma 1,348
Alice 1,335
Eliza 1,331
Ellen 1,242
Annie 1,168
Emily 991
Hannah 912
Margaret 743
Martha 735
Harriet 543
Louisa 530
Maria 506
Edith 502
Florence 485
Fanny 458
Caroline 436
Charlotte 425
Ada 423
Clara 371
Lucy 344
Kate 327
Catherine 321
Frances 296
Susan 287
Anne 275
Agnes 268
Esther 249
Isabella 240
Harriett 232
Rose 231
Amelia 193
Matilda 182
Sophia 174
Rebecca 168
Susannah 167
Elizth. 165
Amy 155
Julia 143
Minnie 141
Lydia 140
Eleanor 135
Gertrude 134
Jessie 127
Ethel 124
Laura 122

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 4,786
John 4,633
George 2,898
James 2,658
Thomas 2,473
Henry 1,704
Charles 1,654
Joseph 1,494
Robert 968
Alfred 911
Edward 861
Samuel 857
Arthur 787
Richard 713
Frederick 697
Walter 552
Albert 500
Harry 482
Herbert 339
Frank 335
Ernest 312
Edwin 293
Benjamin 226
Wm. 224
David 223
Francis 220
Fred 195
Thos. 161
Isaac 159
Peter 140
Tom 124
Daniel 123
Geo. 107
Stephen 101
Edmund 94
Abraham 93
Percy 92
Mark 86
Chas. 85
Fredk. 76
Christopher 73
Fredrick 71
Philip 70
Ralph 65
Alexander 60
Matthew 59
Edgar 57
Joshua 57
Sidney 57
Horace 56

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Turner households.

FAQ

Turner surname: questions and answers

How common was the Turner surname in 1881?

In 1881, 83,267 people were recorded with the Turner surname. That placed it at #24 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Turner surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 103,854 in 2016. That gives Turner a modern rank of #30.

What does the Turner surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to a person who worked with a lathe to shape wood or metal objects.

What does the Turner map show?

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