Welcome to GBNames and the SmartCensus
The SmartCensus is a programme of research by the Geographic Data Service (GeoDS) to explore the places where we live, work and play. It uses geography to link new ‘smart’ data from our digital devices to conventional statistics, so that we can trace population movements across the generations. The SmartCensus can chart inter-generational movements of your family group across Great Britain over the last 175 years, while also documenting changes in its estimated size. Where our ancestors lived can also shape where we live today, so do also compare the neighbourhoods where your family group is concentrated with the population at large. While geography is not always destiny, panning and zooming across the map helps you to trace your family's geographic origins, as well as helping to explain its SmartCensus profile.
...or try one of these names:
Darker shading shows where the name is most concentrated, taking into account how many people live there. Use the slider bar to see where the name was found over historic (1851-1921, excluding 1871, which isn't available) and more recent SmartCensus (1997-2026) time periods. Not every surname has a map for every period: a year is only shown if at least 100 people carried the name that year, so some names have gaps where bearer numbers dip below this threshold. You can find the most popular given names associated with any surname further down the page, and more about the SmartCensus and other data sources used to create this page further below.
About GBNames and the SmartCensus
GBNames explores the British geography of family names, using the search box above. Family groups often settled in different parts of Great Britain and spread out over time, so they can end up concentrated in different kinds of neighbourhoods. This site uses surnames to introduce the SmartCensus, developed by Smart Data Research UK's Geographic Data Service (GeoDS).
Where the data comes from
For the Historic Census period (1851-1921), we use digitised census records from the I-CeM project. Census data only becomes available for research once it is 100 years old, which is why 1921 is currently the most recent year we can use. The SmartCensus links conventional censuses with new 'smart' data sources - updated every year since 1997 - to give more detailed, more frequently updated neighbourhood estimates than conventional statistics allow. See the GeoDS SmartCensus dataset page, Lansley et al. (2019) and Van Dijk et al. (2021) for more detail. These yearly updates allow researchers to monitor the intricacies of local changes throughout the 21st century. See our About page to find out more.
How we map the distributions from these data sources
We use a technique called kernel density estimation to show where a name's bearers are most concentrated, without plotting individual addresses. We only build a map, or show a statistic, for a name with at least 100 people in a given year, to protect individual privacy. See our About page for more details on the methodology and relevant references to published research.
Geographic Data Service (GeoDS)