Kershaw Surname

23,388th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 23,169 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Guernsey

Kershaw Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Kirkshaw,' in the parish of Rochdale, Lancashire For the loss of t, compare Kirby for Kirkby. 'Lands in Kirkshaw, Little Wardle ... and Spotland' (Lancashire, and Cheshire Records, pt.

Read More About This Surname

Kershaw Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England10,7581:5,179720
United States6,7451:53,7376,435
Australia2,9281:9,2201,376
Canada8201:44,9345,535
New Zealand5831:7,7671,317
South Africa3911:138,56215,990
Scotland2091:25,6162,793
Wales1871:16,5481,793
Ireland1141:41,3063,205
Spain561:834,85833,799
Northern Ireland401:46,1264,031
United Arab Emirates341:269,47919,099
Germany321:2,515,796126,826
Thailand261:2,716,859279,944
Brazil251:8,562,973188,780
Netherlands251:675,48754,943
Guernsey221:2,929767
Qatar191:124,10514,725
Isle of Man161:5,3641,196
France141:4,744,480251,814
Jersey121:8,2671,718
Sweden111:895,16066,831
Zimbabwe111:1,403,47676,064
Bahrain91:149,8455,469
Philippines91:11,248,691221,039
Hong Kong71:1,047,9264,985
Italy71:8,736,670118,213
Norway61:857,04855,549
Peru51:6,356,82538,776
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Russia41:36,030,764577,589
China41:341,830,39216,990
South Korea31:17,080,0852,793
Japan31:42,614,76459,022
India21:383,532,6911,645,216
Brunei21:209,3663,098
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Ukraine11:45,522,696503,646
Antigua and Barbuda11:99,1712,137
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Vanuatu11:263,2762,086
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Angola11:26,989,21411,853
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Tanzania11:52,941,613123,716
Switzerland11:8,212,915156,297
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Bermuda11:65,2793,010
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Puerto Rico11:3,550,1399,109
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Mozambique11:27,261,5697,432
Montenegro11:639,5659,092
Liberia11:4,408,53547,110
Kuwait11:3,800,69427,187
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Fiji11:894,3914,568
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland921:48,1514,112
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England9,6481:2,526364
Scotland301:124,7745,666
Wales221:71,2923,399
Guernsey41:8,1641,328
Isle of Man11:54,2692,077
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,2151:41,3324,843

Kershaw (87) may also be a first name.

Kershaw Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Kirkshaw,' in the parish of Rochdale, Lancashire For the loss of t, compare Kirby for Kirkby. 'Lands in Kirkshaw, Little Wardle ... and Spotland' (Lancashire, and Cheshire Records, pt. ii.). The surname that has sprung there from has ramified in an extraordi nary manner, and is known in all Englishspeaking countries.

Matthew de Kyrkshagh, Lancashire, 1281: Baines' History Lancashire (Croston's edit).

Geoffrey del Kyrkeshagh, of Rochdale parish, 1390: ibid.

John de Kyrkshagh, or Kershaw, of Townhouses, in Rochdale, 1424: ibid.

Edward Kershaw, of Upper Townhouse, 1572: Wills at Chester.

Edward Kershaw, of Townhouse, 1617: ibid.

From this period the surname is invariably found as Kershaw. The meaning, of course, is the shaw or wood by the church. I find two instances of the earlier form in the first two following entries:

Agnes Kirkeschagh, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1630. Baptised — Thomas Kirkshawe: Reg. Prestbury, Cheshire.

1752. Married — Charles Kershaw and Elizabeth Sooby: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) belonging to Kirkshaw (Lancs) = the Church-Wood [Old Northern English circe = Old Norse kirkia, a church + Old English sc(e)aga, a wood]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

Place name in Lancashire, England. (Kirkshaw - “Church-Wood”.)

South African Surnames (1965) by Eric Rosenthal

(English) Dweller at, or near, the copse on the marsh, i.e., a boggy wood.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

From Cirshay (?); a location name in Dorset Orfrom the Flemish, Kersse, or from the German, Korsawe; a personal name.$

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Kershaw was a Manchester name in the reign of Elizabeth; Richard Kyrshaw was elected town "wayte (musician) in 1562 (Har.). Kirshaw was a Rochdale name in the 16th century (If.) and it still survives there. James Kershaw was minister of New Church, Rossendale, in 1598 (W. W.). John Kershaw bequeathed, in 1701, two estates for founding a free school at New Church (B.). The name is still in New Church. Kirkshaw was an old form of the name in the 15th century (W. W.). The name is also established in the West Riding.

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Kershaw Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Kershaw Come From? nationality or country of origin

Kershaw is most common in England. It may occur in the variant forms:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name Kershaw? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 23,388th most numerous last name world-wide It is held by around 1 in 314,539 people. The last name Kershaw occurs predominantly in Europe, where 50 percent of Kershaw live; 49 percent live in Northern Europe and 49 percent live in British Isles. It is also the 1,024,927th most frequent first name at a global level, borne by 87 people.

The surname Kershaw is most numerous in England, where it is borne by 10,758 people, or 1 in 5,179. In England it is mostly concentrated in: Greater Manchester, where 23 percent live, West Yorkshire, where 15 percent live and Lancashire, where 9 percent live. Excluding England it occurs in 60 countries. It is also common in The United States, where 29 percent live and Australia, where 13 percent live.

Kershaw Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Kershaw has changed over time. In England the number of people who held the Kershaw last name increased 112 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it increased 555 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 697 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it increased 850 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it increased 124 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Kershaw Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the Kershaw surname is principally Catholic (62%) in Ireland.

In The United States Kershaw are 10.29% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 57.06% registered with the party.

The amount Kershaw earn in different countries varies greatly. In Peru they earn 29.74% less than the national average, earning S/. 13,619 per year; in South Africa they earn 50.08% more than the national average, earning R 356,640 per year; in United States they earn 6.66% more than the national average, earning $46,022 USD per year and in Canada they earn 7.84% more than the national average, earning $53,578 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Ckershaw931/
Kerschaw931/
Kaershaw931/
Kerrshaw930/
Kershaww930/
Kershaws930/
Kersaw924/
Kershow8675/
Kirshaw8644/
Kerhsaw865/
Cershaw862/
Kershav861/
Kerchaw861/
Kersaaw861/
Kersahw861/
Karshaw861/
Kershawová821/
Kershova802/
Kirshaws800/
Karsaw778/
Korsaw771/
Kersow770/
Kerschaff750/
Kharsaw71132/
Kersouw7153/
Kershof7143/
Kersova7142/
Karsauw7112/
Kershov718/
Carshaw716/
Korshow712/
Kiersow711/
Kirshova67250/
Kershoff67223/
Kyrshova6756/
Korschow6720/
Kherchaf673/
Karschow672/
Kerzhova672/

Search for Another Surname

Kershaw Reference & Research

Renshaw Project FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Kershaw
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis