Somerset Surname

188,233rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 2,247 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Guyana

Somerset Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Somerset' one who had left the county and received his surname as an emigrant from that particular shire; compare Lancashire, Wiltshire, Cornish, Kentish, &c.

William de Somersete, Salop, 1273.

Read More About This Surname

Somerset Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England7871:70,7988,124
United States6521:555,91945,866
South Africa3551:152,61317,281
Canada1371:268,94625,310
Australia1291:209,26920,284
Guyana821:9,2951,436
New Zealand281:161,72618,041
Wales231:134,5459,804
Scotland121:446,15118,166
Denmark61:940,78647,603
Brazil51:42,814,866547,158
Northern Ireland41:461,25916,615
France31:22,140,907385,998
Thailand21:35,319,172966,191
Spain21:23,376,018128,922
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
United States Virgin Islands11:110,3756,934
Venezuela11:30,204,07785,459
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
Switzerland11:8,212,915156,297
Sweden11:9,846,757347,448
Singapore11:5,507,70347,049
Philippines11:101,238,223404,861
Nigeria11:177,142,758748,972
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Jamaica11:2,869,94713,896
Italy11:61,156,688199,583
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Germany11:80,505,459560,955
China11:1,367,321,56651,149
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Argentina11:42,743,414282,706
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland401:110,7476,785
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England3831:63,6437,356
Wales181:87,1343,963
Jersey41:12,9712,116
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States561:896,76254,350

Somerset (162) may also be a first name.

Somerset Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Somerset' one who had left the county and received his surname as an emigrant from that particular shire; compare Lancashire, Wiltshire, Cornish, Kentish, &c.

William de Somersete, Salop, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Roger de Somersete, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

1591. Henry Somerset, Herefordshire: Register of the University of Oxford.

1804. Married — Hugh Henry Mitchell and Harriet Isabella Somerset: St. George, Hanover Square.

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

(English) belonging to Somerset, 13th cent. Somersete, Anglo-Saxon Sumer- sœte, Sumor-sœte [Old English sœte, genit. pl. sckt(e)na, settlers: the first element is apparently conn. with the Saxon royal summer- residence Sumertún—O.E. sumer, summer —now Somerton] And him [Ælfred] cómon þǽr ongéan Sumor sǽte ealle.

(And there came to him there all the Somerset-men)—A.-Saxon Chron., A.D. 878.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

This is one of the few instances of a surname having been borrowed from a title. Henry Beaufort, third Duke of Somerset (great-grandson of John of Gaunt), who was beheaded in 1463, for his adherence to the cause of King Henry VI., left issue a natural son, Sir Charles Somerset, Knight of the Garter. He was elevated to the peerage, and his lineal descendant, Henry Marquis of Worcester, was created Duke of Beaufort in 1682. Thus, in the same blood, the surname and the title have changed places, and instead of Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, we have Somerset, Duke of Beaufort.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

From the Flemish, Somerset; a personal name.

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

The county.

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

Somerset Last Name Facts

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

Somerset occurs in England more than any other country or territory. It may be found as a variant:. Click here to see other possible spellings of Somerset.

How Common Is The Last Name Somerset? popularity and diffusion

This last name is the 188,233rd most frequently used surname on earth. It is borne by around 1 in 3,243,234 people. The last name is predominantly found in The Americas, where 39 percent of Somerset live; 37 percent live in Northern Europe and 37 percent live in British Isles. Somerset is also the 720,105th most widespread first name on earth, held by 162 people.

The surname is most common in England, where it is carried by 787 people, or 1 in 70,798. In England Somerset is most prevalent in: South Yorkshire, where 17 percent are found, Derbyshire, where 10 percent are found and Greater London, where 9 percent are found. Other than England Somerset occurs in 33 countries. It also occurs in The United States, where 29 percent are found and South Africa, where 16 percent are found.

Somerset Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Somerset has changed over time. In England the number of people bearing the Somerset surname expanded 205 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 1,164 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in Wales it expanded 128 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Somerset Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the surname is predominantly Anglican (43%) in Ireland.

In The United States Somerset are 11.63% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 58.4% being registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Somerset earn in different countries varies markedly. In South Africa they earn 24.97% less than the national average, earning R 178,296 per year; in United States they earn 0.02% more than the national average, earning $43,157 USD per year and in Canada they earn 13.99% more than the national average, earning $56,636 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

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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 Somerset
  • 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