Most common surnames in Britain mapped

A team of geographers at University College London, led by Prof. Paul Longley and Muhammad Adnan have created a map of the most popular surnames around Britain.

http://bit.ly/17NZHcD

names map

The map shows the distribution of the top three surnames by area using the electoral register. In addition to this, Twitter account surnames have also been included. Surnames are coloured according to their cultural, ethnic and linguistic origin according to the Onomap name classification

The results show a marked difference between the two data sources, with Twitter names diverging from national and regional stereotypes. In the general population (electoral register), Smith dominates in England, Jones in Wales, while Scotland is dotted with Campbells and Robertsons. Switch to Twitter, and many more non-British names appear in these areas.

The map has received attention from various newspaper media:

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2013/apr/22/popular-surnames-great-britain-mapped

Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2313590/The-interactive-map-reveals-Britains-popular-surnames.html

Evening Standard

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/techandgadgets/londons-mostused-surnames-revealed-in-interactive-map-8586395.html

Buckingham Helard

http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/local-news/smith-and-khan-top-chart-of-aylesbury-s-most-popular-surnames-1-5031576

Bristol Post

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Welsh-English-surnames-equal-measure-Bristol/story-18789870-detail/story.html

Nouvelles de France (France)

http://www.ndf.fr/identite/24-04-2013/immigration-les-listes-electorales-et-twitter-nous-disent-tout