Last year I posted about a map several geographers put together showing the distribution of last names across the U.S. Historical immigration and internal settlement patterns are reflected in the concentrations of names across the country.
Now one of the geographers involved in that project, James Cheshire, has done the same for London. Using 2001 electoral rolls, Cheshire plotted the 15 most common surnames in 983 separate London districts. Here’s a section of the map of the most common name:
The size of the font is scaled to represent the number of people with each name. They’re color-coded by place or origin (though since many immigrants have Anglicized names, origin of a name may not reflect a person’s ancestry).
As Cheshire points out, a few names fill the top slot throughout most of London. As you go a bit further down the list, London’s diversity becomes more apparent. Here’s a small slice of the map of the 10th most common surnames:
Those of you with more knowledge of London, what noteworthy patterns do you see?
Comments 9
Frugal City Girl — August 28, 2012
No surprise to see Levy and Cohen around Golders Green, and Doyle and O'Connor around Kilburn and Cricklewood!
There seems to me to be a correlation between "Patel" and "Begum" and Labour boroughs in the last general election, and "Smith" and Tory boroughs. I'm not surprised that probably-not-white people are more likely to vote for the party who's demonising immigrants the least these days, but it's interesting to see it on the map.
Paraffin Duck — August 28, 2012
Absolutely no surprise to see Begum so prominent in East London. Brick Lane's street signs are written in Bengali as well as English. Looking at 2nd and 3rd most common names shows the big Greek community up north around Green Lanes, but apparently Smith and Williams still wins out as the number 1 name in those areas.
Drhiphp85 — August 28, 2012
As an American who usually interacts with people descended from Germans, Swedish, Italian, Irish, and Polish immigrants, I really have had little exposure to British Last names beyond the most common ones. Very informative...
Kat — August 28, 2012
WHAT IS MISSING is what the colour code ACTUALLY means (and I think you should add that to the original post):
- Light pink: Bangladeshi
- Orange: Hindu Indian
- Red: Sikh Indian
- Dark Green: Pakistani
- Light Blue: English
- Dark Blue: Welsh
- Light Green: Scottish
- Light Purple: Jewish
- Dark Purple: Greek
- Yellow: 'Other'
WHAT IS WRONG (the typical US-centric view): It is common in the US to have immigrants with anglicized names. This is UNCOMMON in the UK.
First image: The BEGUM area where the Thames has this strong southward slope that is the borough of Tower Hamlets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Tower_Hamlets). Begum is a Muslim name, either Bangladeshi or Pakistani. According to the wiki article "Tower Hamlets has one of the smallest indigenous populations of the
boroughs of Britain. The majority of the residents in the borough are of
White ethnicity, with a large Asian community. Muslim Bangladeshis (22.1%) are the largest ethnic minority in the borough."
Second image, same area: This shows some Anglophone names (thus the White majority in Tower Hamlets) such as Smith, Brown and Harris as well Pakistani names and more Bangladeshi names.
First image: The huge PATEL (thus Hindu Indian) areas in the East are North Newham and South Redbridge. On Newham from wiki:
Newham has the highest young
population and one of the lowest White British populations in the country. The borough has the second highest percentage of
Muslims in Britain (24.3%). [...] The 2001 census identified Newham as the most ethnically
diverse district in England and Wales [...] over
39% of the population is white [...] Approximately 38% of the population is
Asian, of which 10.2% are Indian, 9.6% are Bangladeshi, 13.9% are Pakistani,
and 5.1% are from other Asian backgrounds. Approximately 20% of the population
is black, of which 6.5% are Caribbean, 12.4% are African, and 1.1% are from
other black backgrounds. [...] Newham has the highest fertility rate in the
country at 2.87, [...] compared to the national average of 1.95."
On Redbridge: 14.3% Indian
6.6% Pakistani
2.3% Bangladeshi
3.3% Other Asian
3.9% Black Caribbean
4.6% Black African
No surprise re: Jewish names in Golder's Green.
The "Santos" and "Ferreira" [Spanish/Portuguese last name meaning "Smith"] part in the second image is Lambeth: "After English, the two main languages spoken [in Lambeth] are Yoruba and Portuguese." This area is known as "Little Portugal":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Portugal,_London
http://www.timeout.com/london/features/1483/Multicultural_London.html
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