“Being able to research my family history has always excited me, because each new detail turns names in records into real people.”
Hannah Leahy’s experience captures a growing trend across the UK and Ireland. People want to understand their roots, and surnames offer a direct link to family history.
Many families carry names introduced through recent migration, alongside historic British and Irish names. These names reflect diverse origins, cultures and journeys, yet many had never been explained in a reliable and accessible way.
Largest database of UK and Irish surnames
A project by the University of the West of England has changed that by creating the largest ever database of UK and Irish surnames.
The project Family Names of the United Kingdom produced the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, a book of more than 45,000 names that allows readers to look up their surname and explore its origins.
The dictionary covers every surname with more than 100 current bearers. Each entry sets out different spellings of a name, its origins and etymology, early recorded bearers, and evidence of its use from first records through to the 19th century.
It also includes information on how a name is spread across different parts of the UK and Ireland, providing a comprehensive reference on family names.
Inclusive resource for modern Britain and Ireland
Hannah found the dictionary invaluable during her own research. She had already used DNA services and census records, but the dictionary offered exciting new details. It also clarified which parts of her family story matched long-term surname evidence.
She said the dictionary confirmed that her surname came from Ireland, mainly from Cork, which matched her earlier searches. Hannah used the dictionary to explore both sides of her family and traced some English names in her maternal lineage all the way back to the 11th century’s Domesday Book.
The Family Names of the United Kingdom project brought together extensive medieval and early modern records to explain the origins, history and distribution of UK surnames. It combined linguistic analysis with local history, national statistics and large-scale documentary evidence within a single public database.
The database includes names of English, Cornish, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origin, as well as Huguenot, Jewish and more recently arrived names such as Capaldi, Husain and Patel.
This breadth of coverage helped create a more inclusive resource, reflecting the historical depth and cultural diversity of modern Britain.
