These Are The 100 Most Common Surnames In Yorkshire

We all know the famous names of Yorkshire from Sean Bean, Jeremy Clarkson, Jessica Enis, Dame Judy Dench and Patrick Stewart. But, have you ever wondered about your heritage?

Well, thanks to the new list made by the online genealogy portal Forebears, you can see the county’s 100 most common surnames just to get a measure of how common you really are.

The top 3 names won’t be a surprise to most with Smith, Taylor and Wilson taking the top spots. But, it started to make us wonder more about the history of surnames.

Apparently, after 1066 surnames were introduced into England by Norman barons, and gradually spread. In England, there are around 45,000 different surnames – each with a history behind it. Sources for surnames are endless, but some common sources where names are derived are nicknames, physical attributes, counties, trades, heraldic charges, and almost every object known to mankind.

We’ve looked at a few of the top 3 most common Yorkshire ones.

Smith

There are over 46,000 Smiths in Yorkshire and the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon smitan, meaning “to smite or strike.” It comes from an occupational name for a man who works with metal.

Taylor

There are over 22,000 Taylor’s in God’s Own Country and similar to Smith it is an occupational derivative. From an English family name, meaning “cutter of cloth“. The Old French word tailleor means “tailor”.

Wilson

Not far behind Taylor with just over 22,000 as well, Wilson comes from patronymic expression son of William or son of Wil.