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Surname Distribution Maps

Surname Distribution.

In tracking down the origins of TROTT surnames and variants, it is essential to plot the distribution in various types of records such as those from Family Search, the IGI (International Genealogical Index), the census returns and the many other indexes that are now to be found. For England, Wales and Scotland, there are census records from 1841 through to 1911. These are available on a number of websites: Family Search (www.familysearch.org), Ancestry, Find My Past, GenesReunited and Scotlands People.

Plotting distributions in the 1881 Census has been made easy by the issue of Steve Archer's Surname Atlas CD. The maps below have been produced from that CD and show (apart from the first) the frequency per 100 thousand population in each County or Poor Law Union (equivalent to Civil Registration District).

Comparative distribution of TROTT (1,965), TRATT (169), TRETT (189) and TROUT (579) in 1881 Census. (NB actual numbers in brackets.)

Frequency of occurrence of TROTT by County
The highest density was in Somerset, followed by Devon and Dorset. Other clusters were in London, Kent, Essex, South Wales and Yorkshire.The total number of TROTTs in the census was 1,965, of which 503 were in Somerset, 204 in Devon and 273 in Middlesex.

Frequency of TROTT by Registration District
The highest was in Chard, 627 per 100k, followed by Langport, 340 and Axminster, 330. If anywhere can be called the home of the TROTTs, it is probably the Chard area of Somerset.

Frequency of TRAT(T) per 100k by county.

The distribution is very similar to TROTT, but far less common,showing that the names probably have a common origin.

Total numbers for TRET(T) by County
The name is clustered in Norfolk, and may have a different origin to TROTT and TRATT. The surname TROUT is clustered in the West Country, mainly in South Devon.

Our member, John Matrow in the USA kindly extracted the following numbers from the index to the 1880 census for the USA:

             TROTT


North Carolina 15
Missouri 6
California 1
New York 12
Mississippi 6
Illinois 14
Minnesota 2
Virginia 4
Dakota Territory 2
Ohio 46
Iowa 1
Pennsylvania 3
Texas 22
Kansas 5
Massachusetts 5
Wisconsin 28
Arkansas 3
Maine 9
Tennessee 13
Maryland 30

        TRATT  (46)


Missouri 2
New York 9
Illinois 8
Ohio 12
Pennsylvania 3
Massachusetts 1
Arkansas 1
Maryland 5
Nebraska 1
Alabama 4

TRETT


Missouri 3
New York 5
Illinois 1
Colorado 1
Minnesota 3
Kentucky 7
Virginia 47
Georgia 4
Texas 1
Arkansas 15
Indiana 5
Nebraska 1

If anyone has maps or data for the distribution of Trott and variants in the IGI for England, France, Germany or other countries, we shall be pleased to publish them on this page. Take a look at http://www.verwandt.de/karten/absolut/trott.html  for a map showing distribution of 542 Trotts in telephone books of present-day Germany.

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