NameCensus.

UK surname

Whitlam

In the 1881 census there were 250 people recorded with the Whitlam surname, ranking it #11,070 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 484, ranked #10,218, up from #11,070 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Rochdale, Mexborough and Carlton-in-Lindrick, Wallingwillis. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Derby, Nottingham and North Lincolnshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Whitlam is 562 in 2002. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 93.6%.

1881 census count

250

Ranked #11,070

Modern count

484

2016, ranked #10,218

Peak year

2002

562 bearers

Map years

8

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Whitlam had 250 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #11,070 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 484 in 2016, ranked #10,218.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 370 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Whitlam surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Whitlam surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Whitlam 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 157 #12,504
1861 historical 94 #21,883
1881 historical 250 #11,070
1891 historical 233 #13,392
1901 historical 341 #10,629
1911 historical 370 #9,852
1997 modern 542 #8,759
1998 modern 561 #8,782
1999 modern 561 #8,842
2000 modern 548 #8,976
2001 modern 547 #8,833
2002 modern 562 #8,835
2003 modern 510 #9,350
2004 modern 524 #9,198
2005 modern 501 #9,436
2006 modern 486 #9,675
2007 modern 485 #9,780
2008 modern 498 #9,664
2009 modern 507 #9,743
2010 modern 522 #9,739
2011 modern 512 #9,777
2012 modern 527 #9,497
2013 modern 525 #9,675
2014 modern 528 #9,701
2015 modern 497 #10,046
2016 modern 484 #10,218

Geography

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Where Whitlams are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Rochdale, Mexborough, Carlton-in-Lindrick, Wallingwillis, Halifax and Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Derby, Nottingham, North Lincolnshire and Waveney. 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 Mexborough Yorkshire, West Riding
3 Carlton-in-Lindrick, Wallingwillis Nottinghamshire
4 Halifax Yorkshire, West Riding
5 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Derby 015 Derby
2 Nottingham 002 Nottingham
3 North Lincolnshire 006 North Lincolnshire
4 Nottingham 005 Nottingham
5 Waveney 004 Waveney

Forenames

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First names often paired with Whitlam

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

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Whitlam

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

Whitlam is most concentrated in decile 9 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the healthier end of the index.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

9
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

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

1881 census detail

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Whitlam families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Whitlam 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. Yorkshire leads with 96 Whitlams recorded in 1881 and an index of 3.97x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 96 3.97x
Nottinghamshire 49 14.91x
Lincolnshire 40 10.26x
Lancashire 24 0.83x
Norfolk 15 4.00x
Middlesex 12 0.49x
Denbighshire 6 6.51x
Derbyshire 5 1.31x
Essex 1 0.21x
Kent 1 0.12x
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. Wombwell in Yorkshire leads with 13 Whitlams recorded in 1881 and an index of 184.40x.

Place Total Index
Wombwell 13 184.40x
Gainsborough 11 119.70x
Wardleworth 11 66.51x
North Wheatley 9 2812.50x
Carlton In Lindrick 8 919.54x
Islington London 8 3.38x
Ovenden 8 74.42x
Thorpe Next Norwich 8 201.51x
Barnsley 7 28.09x
Ferry Fryston 7 744.68x
Harthill Cum Woodall 7 752.69x
Nether Hallam 7 21.41x
Wiseton 7 7000.00x
Abergele 6 226.42x
Boston Hall Hills 6 909.09x
Clarborough 6 243.90x
Norwich St Benedict 6 359.28x
Rawmarsh 6 70.26x
Thurlby 6 2307.69x
Barugh 5 245.10x
Denaby 5 364.96x
Great Grimsby 5 20.20x
Killamarsh 5 210.97x
Babworth 4 655.74x
Brightside Bierlow 4 8.44x
Sculcoates 4 10.44x
Skelmanthorpe 4 153.26x
East Retford 3 105.26x
Newark Upon Trent 3 25.40x
Oldham 3 3.21x
Preston 3 3.88x
Purston Jaglin 3 508.47x
St Pancras London 3 1.53x
Balderton 2 222.22x
Bradfield 2 21.46x
Caistor 2 129.03x
Castleton 2 6.92x
Chorley 2 12.32x
Clee With Weelsby 2 23.42x
Conisbrough 2 88.11x
Sutton 2 645.16x
West Halton Gunness 2 1818.18x
Worksop 2 20.51x
Ardwick 1 3.83x
Bradford 1 1.71x
East Ham 1 11.20x
Ecclesfield 1 5.64x
Emley 1 92.59x
Everton 1 181.82x
Finningley 1 322.58x
Fulham London 1 2.83x
Goole 1 24.69x
Great Coates 1 500.00x
Holbeck 1 6.25x
Horncastle 1 24.88x
Huddersfield 1 2.84x
Lewisham 1 2.25x
Little Bolton 1 2.69x
Louth 1 11.19x
Mexborough 1 20.83x
Newcastle On Tyne St 1 5.32x
Norwich St Stephen 1 29.07x
Old Malton 1 65.79x
Sheffield 1 1.30x
Southwell 1 41.84x
St Johns Cum Throapham 1 1250.00x
Stamford St Michael 1 90.09x
Sutton St Mary St James 1 217.39x
Tanshelf 1 51.81x
Thorne 1 33.33x
Toxteth Park 1 1.02x
Wellingore 1 151.52x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 16
Elizabeth 11
Sarah 11
Ann 10
Annie 6
Hannah 4
Catherine 3
Ellen 3
Emma 3
Harriet 3
Eliz. 2
Elizth. 2
Emily 2
Kate 2
Maria 2
Susan 2
Alice 1
Amelia 1
Anna 1
Anne 1
Ayzres 1
Bertha 1
Charlotte 1
Clara 1
Dinah 1
Edith 1
Elisabeth 1
Eliza 1
Elizth.K. 1
Esther 1
Florance 1
Florence 1
Grace 1
Jane 1
Janet 1
Julia 1
Leiza 1
Lilian 1
Louisa 1
Lucy 1
Margarett 1
Naomi 1
Nelly 1
Olive 1
Priscilla 1
Rachael 1
Rachel 1
Rebecca 1
Rose 1
Ruth 1

Top male names

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

Name Count
William 26
John 13
George 12
Thomas 11
Joseph 8
Henry 6
James 4
Robert 4
Walter 4
Arthur 3
Frederick 3
Herbert 3
Albert 2
Alfred 2
Charles 2
Frank 2
Fred 2
Richard 2
Allen 1
Archibald 1
Aurther 1
Ben. 1
Cecil 1
Curtis 1
Evelyn 1
Francis 1
Franks 1
Harold 1
Harry 1
Lennard 1
Louis 1
Mathew 1
Matthew 1
Sam 1
Sydney 1
Thos. 1
Timothy 1
Tom 1
Willie 1
Wm. 1

FAQ

Whitlam surname: questions and answers

How common was the Whitlam surname in 1881?

In 1881, 250 people were recorded with the Whitlam surname. That placed it at #11,070 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Whitlam surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 484 in 2016. That gives Whitlam a modern rank of #10,218.

What does the Whitlam map show?

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