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Britain's rarest surname...

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Donna

Donna Report 31 Aug 2006 09:14

I am having trouble finding Jelley. I am thinking it must be pretty rare. Can anyone tell me about Henrietta Jelley Cheers Donna

Matthew

Matthew Report 31 Aug 2006 09:29

Hi Donna, Jelley isn't that rare (although it isn't common either) - there are 35 occurences of that name for every one million people - which means it is ranked as the 4201st most common name from the 25000 names profiled. Matt

Merry

Merry Report 31 Aug 2006 10:46

Is part of the problem when you are dealing with a rare surname that the source for the statistics are not very accurate? I looked up two of my rare-ish surnames - Renyard and Horniman. I see one source used is the 1881 census, but the numbers of people transcribed with these surnames is (statistically) widely different to the actual numbers of people with the surname at that date because of mis-transcribtions. Admittedly, not on the 1881 (I forget which census now), the number of Hornimans transcribed is only 25% of the actual number I have found for my tree!! You wouldn't expect 75% of Smiths to be mistranscribed!!! Also when is a surname a separate name from another?? My Renyards probably descend from another motley crew called Ronyard in the next county. My Hornimans are probably related to Horneman and Hornaman and 101 other spelling variations. Merry