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Website maps surnames worldwide
BBC News ^ | August 31, 2008

Posted on 08/31/2008 1:51:09 AM PDT by Schnucki

A website which maps global surnames has been launched to help people find the origins of their name and how far it may have spread.

The Public Profiler site plots eight million last names using data from electoral rolls and phone directories.

The site covers 300 million people in 26 countries, showing the origins of names and where families have moved to.

David Beckham, for example, has an English name, but there are more Beckhams in the US than Britain.

But the region of the world with the highest concentration of people called Beckham was even further from the footballer's east London origins - in the New Zealand province of Northland.

The site - www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames - also reveals which of the five million forenames are most closely associated with different surnames and lists the top regions and cities for each surname.

It was developed by a team of geographers from University College London.

Professor Paul Longley, one of the researchers, said: "The information is not just historical but geographical.

"We can link names to places - a name is now not just a statement of who you are but where you are."

Most surnames originated in specific places in the world and remain most frequent in those areas, but have often spread to other countries because of migration, the research showed.

Searches for Britain's three multi-gold medallists at the recent Olympics and the leaders of the three main political parties revealed some mixed results.

• Swimmer Rebecca Adlington's surname is most prevalent in New Zealand

• Cyclist Chris Hoy's surname is Irish but more common in Denmark

• Cyclist Bradley Wiggins's surname is most popular in the US

• Prime Minister Gordon Brown's surname tops the list in Australia

• Conservative leader David Cameron's surname is most prevalent in New

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Technical
KEYWORDS: internet; names; reference; surname

1 posted on 08/31/2008 1:51:09 AM PDT by Schnucki
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To: Schnucki

The website is sloooooow.


2 posted on 08/31/2008 2:02:11 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Schnucki

bookmark


3 posted on 08/31/2008 2:04:18 AM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: Schnucki

When I got it to work it was really cool. Biloxi Mississippi has the highest concentration of people with my name in the world.


4 posted on 08/31/2008 2:11:12 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Schnucki

I tried three different surnames; after five minutes of laboriously “crunching” my data, the site reported a run-time error each time. I’m not impressed.

Is the site really capable of providing information on the frequency of surnames not just by country, but even by province/state?

Regards,


5 posted on 08/31/2008 2:37:08 AM PDT by alexander_busek
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To: Schnucki

Slow and busy.


6 posted on 08/31/2008 2:57:35 AM PDT by BunnySlippers
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To: Schnucki

bump


7 posted on 08/31/2008 3:11:09 AM PDT by Chickensoup ('08 VOTING, NOT for the GOP, but INSTEAD, for the SUPREME COURT that will be BEST for my FAMILY!!)
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To: Schnucki

EVERY TIME I ENTER MY SURNAME I GET AN ERROR RESULT.
IF YOU KNOW THE REASON WHY, PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME


8 posted on 08/31/2008 3:28:29 AM PDT by Movemout
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To: alexander_busek; Movemout
"Prof Longley said that the site was currently struggling to cope with demand.

'We are being deluged with requests and we ask people to be patient. There is obviously a lot of interest in family names and family history globally,' he said."

9 posted on 08/31/2008 3:38:01 AM PDT by Schnucki
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To: Schnucki

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY.


10 posted on 08/31/2008 3:45:22 AM PDT by Movemout
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To: Movemout
EVERY TIME I ENTER MY SURNAME I GET AN ERROR RESULT.

There is nobody with your surname. You were adopted but your new surname was never legally registered. Anyone you know with your surname, is an actor and that's their stage name.

11 posted on 08/31/2008 3:55:58 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: Schnucki

Error..Database is busy..

Sorry an Error has occured.. To go back to Name Search, please Click here


12 posted on 08/31/2008 5:22:52 AM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us)
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To: Schnucki

Nothing but error messages for every name I tried including Smith and Johnson. It is a nice thought but doesn’t seem to actually do anything.


13 posted on 08/31/2008 5:38:58 AM PDT by arthurus (Why in God's name are Ramos and Compean still in prison?!)
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