Whalebelly Surname

4,116,508th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 23 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Whalebelly Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the whale,' probably affixed like Oliphant, i.e. the elephant, on account of the ponderous and ungainly build of the bearer.

Thomas Wal, Oxfordshire 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Ralph le Wal, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Read More About This Surname

Whalebelly Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England211:2,653,24194,788
Australia11:26,995,701270,794
France11:66,422,722504,397
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England461:529,89928,330

Whalebelly Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the whale,' probably affixed like Oliphant, i.e. the elephant, on account of the ponderous and ungainly build of the bearer.

Thomas Wal, Oxfordshire 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Ralph le Wal, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Thomas le Whal, 31 Edward I: Calendarium Genealogicum: Henry III-Edward I.

Philemon Whale, Pat. Roll, 19 Elizabeth pt.

1613. Richard Whale (Essex) and Mary Drywood: Marriage Lic. (London).

1642. Baptised — Marye, d. William Whale: St. James, Clerkenwell.

— Buried — Alice, wife of William Whale: ibid.

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

Now a rare surname if it still exists. Of local origin from the place named Le Whele in 1296 (Bain, II, p. 191). The Whele was the name of one of the five churches in the parish of Castleton, near the Whele (or Wheel) Causey, a supposed Roman road, from which it got its name. Thomas Whaill is recorded in Yetham, 1684 (Peebles CR.), Andrew Whale was schoolmaster in Stitchell, 1722 (Stitchill, p. 183), and his son, Lancelot Whale became rector of the Grammar School of Kelso (Heirs, 474), and schoolmaster to Sir Walter Scott. Robert Whale, son of Lancelot, became a surgeon in the army.

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

1. See Wale. 2, A sobriquet allusive to largeness of person. Whalebelly is a recognized surname.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

The same as the Old German names Walo, Wala, Old Norse Vali; from German wale, Anglo-Saxon weal, walh, a stranger; Old Norse vali, id. The name Wale is traced in Irish records to the fourteenth century.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Whalebelly Last Name Facts

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

Whalebelly is borne by more people in England than any other country/territory. It may also occur as a variant:. Click here for other potential spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name Whalebelly? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 4,116,508th most widespread surname globally, borne by approximately 1 in 316,849,822 people. The last name is mostly found in Europe, where 96 percent of Whalebelly are found; 91 percent are found in Northern Europe and 91 percent are found in British Isles.

Whalebelly is most frequently held in England, where it is carried by 21 people, or 1 in 2,653,241. In England Whalebelly is most common in: Buckinghamshire, where 43 percent are found, Norfolk, where 24 percent are found and Suffolk, where 24 percent are found. Excluding England it is found in 2 countries. It also occurs in Australia, where 4 percent are found and France, where 4 percent are found.

Whalebelly Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Whalebelly has changed over time. In England the number of people bearing the Whalebelly surname fell 54 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

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 Whalebelly
  • 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