NameCensus.

UK surname

Woffenden

In the 1881 census there were 265 people recorded with the Woffenden surname, ranking it #10,612 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 178, ranked #21,160, down from #10,612 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, Silkstone and Rawmarsh, Wath-on-Dearn (Swinton). In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Rotherham and Barnsley.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Woffenden is 458 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has fallen by 32.8%.

1881 census count

265

Ranked #10,612

Modern count

178

2016, ranked #21,160

Peak year

1911

458 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Woffenden had 265 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #10,612 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 178 in 2016, ranked #21,160.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 458 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established Mature Families.

Woffenden surname distribution map

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

Distribution map

Woffenden surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

Back to top

Woffenden 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 133 #14,106
1861 historical 222 #10,993
1881 historical 265 #10,612
1891 historical 329 #10,320
1901 historical 373 #9,948
1911 historical 458 #8,376
1997 modern 226 #16,306
1998 modern 243 #15,993
1999 modern 240 #16,226
2000 modern 239 #16,239
2001 modern 240 #15,912
2002 modern 237 #16,413
2003 modern 220 #17,033
2004 modern 211 #17,590
2005 modern 195 #18,458
2006 modern 194 #18,627
2007 modern 194 #18,855
2008 modern 189 #19,315
2009 modern 182 #20,201
2010 modern 198 #19,577
2011 modern 192 #19,797
2012 modern 188 #20,018
2013 modern 187 #20,436
2014 modern 189 #20,441
2015 modern 183 #20,786
2016 modern 178 #21,160

Geography

Back to top

Where Woffendens are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, Silkstone, Rawmarsh, Wath-on-Dearn (Swinton), Batley and Almondbury. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Rotherham and Barnsley. 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 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 Silkstone Yorkshire, West Riding
3 Rawmarsh, Wath-on-Dearn (Swinton) Yorkshire, West Riding
4 Batley Yorkshire, West Riding
5 Almondbury Yorkshire, West Riding

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Rotherham 006 Rotherham
2 Barnsley 019 Barnsley
3 Rotherham 020 Rotherham
4 Barnsley 016 Barnsley
5 Rotherham 004 Rotherham

Forenames

Back to top

First names often paired with Woffenden

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

Modern profile

Back to top

Neighbourhood profile for Woffenden

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Woffenden, 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

Retired Professionals

Group

Established Mature Families

Nationally, the Woffenden surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established Mature Families, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Woffenden household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Married couples predominate, many with older dependent children. Detached housing is common. Homeownership rates are the highest within this Supergroup. The presence of some students suggests that households are towards the end of a child rearing phase. Many residents have degree level qualifications, and the occupational profile is heavily skewed towards managerial and professional occupations. Residential developments commonly occur on the periphery of major urban cities or conurbations.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

European Enclaves

Within London, Woffenden is most associated with areas classed as European Enclaves, 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

Many residents of these accessible neighbourhoods have wide-ranging non-UK European origins. Typically residing in privately rented flats, many residents live alone and are beyond normal retirement age. There are more students than elsewhere in the Supergroup, some of which live in communal establishments. Household residents are often drawn from different ethnic groups.

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

Woffenden 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

Woffenden 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 Woffenden is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 50-60 mbit/s.

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

8
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

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

1881 census detail

Back to top

Woffenden families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Woffenden 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 228 Woffendens recorded in 1881 and an index of 8.90x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 228 8.90x
Gloucestershire 13 2.56x
Warwickshire 7 1.07x
Lancashire 5 0.16x
Cheshire 4 0.70x
Durham 4 0.52x
Lincolnshire 4 0.97x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Barnsley in Yorkshire leads with 17 Woffendens recorded in 1881 and an index of 64.35x.

Place Total Index
Barnsley 17 64.35x
Batley 16 65.74x
Gomersal 11 91.97x
Horbury 11 245.54x
Middlesbrough 11 32.97x
Huddersfield 10 26.80x
Soothill 10 108.11x
Dewsbury 9 34.26x
Dodworth 9 338.35x
Rastrick 9 126.58x
Upperthong 9 412.84x
Westerleigh 9 789.47x
Barnoldswick 8 223.46x
Almondbury 7 56.50x
Birmingham 7 3.22x
Nether Hallam 7 20.20x
Pontefract 7 126.81x
Rawmarsh 6 66.30x
Bentley Cum Arksey 5 373.13x
Leeds 5 3.46x
Mexborough 5 98.43x
South Crosland 5 185.19x
Wakefield 5 25.43x
Elland Cum Greetland 4 34.66x
Escomb 4 113.31x
Flockton 4 384.62x
Hook 4 71.05x
Lindley Cum Quarmby 4 61.92x
Mangotsfield 4 79.21x
Morton In Gainsborough 4 493.83x
Denton 3 44.12x
Hoyland Nether 3 47.77x
Linthwaite 3 55.76x
Liscard 3 29.18x
Lockwood 3 32.54x
Monk Bretton 3 115.83x
Morley 3 22.52x
Sowerby In Halifax 3 35.80x
Gildersome 2 64.94x
Mirfield 2 14.22x
Sheffield 2 2.45x
Stanley Cum Wrenthorpe 2 16.81x
Ashton Under Lyne 1 1.49x
Barmbrough 1 106.38x
Fulstone 1 53.48x
North Meols 1 3.33x
Oxton 1 30.96x
Shipley 1 7.52x
Thurgoland 1 57.80x

Top female names

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

Name Count
Mary 17
Sarah 13
Elizabeth 10
Ann 9
Emma 7
Annie 5
Eliza 5
Martha 5
Alice 4
Anne 4
Hannah 4
Ellen 3
Jane 3
Margaret 3
Edith 2
Emily 2
Harriet 2
Isabella 2
Ada 1
Ameley 1
Amy 1
Annetta 1
Betty 1
Christiana 1
Clara 1
Eliz. 1
Ester 1
Florence 1
Frances 1
Grace 1
Jessie 1
Kate 1
Lettice 1
Lucy 1
Maggy 1
Maria 1
Matilda 1
Morindia 1
Pricilla 1
Rose 1
Ruth 1
Sara 1

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Woffenden 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 13
George 9
James 6
Joseph 6
Richard 6
Albert 5
Samuel 5
Frederick 4
Arthur 3
Ben 3
Henry 3
Walter 3
Ernest 2
Harry 2
Joe 2
Robert 2
Ben. 1
Bond 1
Brian 1
David 1
Davies 1
Edward 1
Edwin 1
Elam 1
Elizabeth 1
Emanuel 1
Ernst.W. 1
Frank 1
Hartley 1
Henery 1
Herbert 1
J.W. 1
Jeremiah 1
Joshua 1
Joss 1
Louis 1
Mark 1
Matthew 1
Phillip 1
Richd. 1
Sam 1
Saml. 1
Sampson 1
Scott 1
Smith 1
Sykes 1
Thos. 1
Tom 1

FAQ

Woffenden surname: questions and answers

How common was the Woffenden surname in 1881?

In 1881, 265 people were recorded with the Woffenden surname. That placed it at #10,612 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Woffenden surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 178 in 2016. That gives Woffenden a modern rank of #21,160.

What does the Woffenden map show?

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