Pobjoy Surname

712,393rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 411 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Australia
Highest density in:
Wales

Pobjoy Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the popinjay,' the talking jay, i.e. parrot; the sobriquet of a chatterer. Middle English popingay, Old French papegay. The K is excrescent, as in Pottinger, Messenger, Clavinger. Mr. Lower has found Popjay and Popjoy still existing.

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Pobjoy Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Australia1721:156,95216,457
England1051:530,64833,151
United States541:6,712,202314,667
Ireland281:168,1767,397
Canada221:1,674,800111,190
Wales201:154,72710,755
Switzerland31:2,737,638105,941
Thailand11:70,638,3451,175,915
South Africa11:54,177,704343,732
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
New Zealand11:4,528,32355,372
Malaysia11:29,494,225409,885
France11:66,422,722504,397
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland141:316,41912,423
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England881:276,99319,333
Wales71:224,0598,079
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States31:16,739,561595,711

Pobjoy Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the popinjay,' the talking jay, i.e. parrot; the sobriquet of a chatterer. Middle English popingay, Old French papegay. The K is excrescent, as in Pottinger, Messenger, Clavinger. Mr. Lower has found Popjay and Popjoy still existing. The curious corruption Pobgee, however, is in the London Directory. The change from 'p' to 'b' seems to have occurred at the close of the 18th century.

1502. 'Item, for bringing of a popyngay to the Quene to Windesore, 13s. 4d.': Privy Purse Exp., Elizabeth of York.

Robert Papynjaye, Close Rolls, 45 Edward III.

Richard Popingay. Calendar of State Papers.Stolen from Fore bears

Of the Popinjay Inn at Norwich, Blomefield writes:

'The middle messuage belonged to the prior and convent, and the other two messuages in 1330 to Roger Papinjay, in whose family it continued till Roger Papinjay, his grandson, turned the corner house into an inn, and in allusion to his own name made it the sign of the popinjay, or great green parrot, from which time it hath been a publick-house to this day, it now being the Popinjay Tavern.': History of Norfolk.

'Richard Popynjay, surveyor of the works at Portsmouth,' July 8, 1568: Rec. Office, Cal. State Papers (Domestic).

1759. Married — William Popjoy and Mary Maynard: St. George, Hanover Square.

1770. — John Francis Popejoy and Mary Freeman: ibid.

1784. — James Pobjoy and Margaret Harris: ibid.

From this latter the transition to the Pobgee of the London Directory is easy.

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

POPJAY: An A-Norman and Chaucerian word for parrot, is popinjay, or popin. gaye. Medieval archers used to practice with the bow at an artificial parrot or popinjay; and shooting at the popinjay was a favourite holiday pastime. In Scotland the game itself was called papejay or papinjay. See Strutt's Sports. This was probably a complimentary sobriquet applied to a good marksman with the long bow or the cross-bow.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Pobjoy Last Name Facts

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

Pobjoy has its highest incidence in Australia. It may also be found as a variant:. For other potential spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Pobjoy? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 712,393rd most frequently held surname at a global level, held by approximately 1 in 17,731,255 people. This last name is predominantly found in Oceania, where 42 percent of Pobjoy reside; 42 percent reside in Australasia and 42 percent reside in Australia and New Zealand.

The last name Pobjoy is most numerous in Australia, where it is carried by 172 people, or 1 in 156,952. In Australia Pobjoy is most common in: Victoria, where 55 percent live, Queensland, where 25 percent live and Western Australia, where 13 percent live. Besides Australia this last name is found in 13 countries. It is also common in England, where 26 percent live and The United States, where 13 percent live.

Pobjoy Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Pobjoy has changed through the years. In England the share of the population with the surname expanded 119 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 1,800 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Ireland it expanded 200 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in Wales it expanded 286 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Pobjoy Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the Pobjoy surname is principally Anglican (93%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Pobjoy last name are 53.23% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 100% being registered to vote for the party.

The amount Pobjoy earn in different countries varies somewhat. In United States they earn 4.34% more than the national average, earning $45,021 USD per year and in Canada they earn 6.38% less than the national average, earning $46,514 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Popjoy83100/
Pubjoy830/
Pobjay830/
Pabjoy830/
Pobje7379/
Pobye7341/
Pobho738/
Pobya731/
Pobyo730/
Pobjie6784/
Pabijo673/
Phobye672/
Powjey671/
Poipjo671/
Pobija671/
Pobjee670/
Popjay670/

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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 Pobjoy
  • 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