Worcester Surname
Approximately 3,897 people bear this surname
Worcester Surname Definition:
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Worcester,' a corruption; v. Worcester.
1567. Buried — Abraham, son of Reynold Woster: St. Antholin (London).
1621. — Henry, s. John Woster: St. James, Clerkenwell.
Read More About This SurnameWorcester Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 3,252 | 1:111,457 | 12,111 |
| England | 353 | 1:157,842 | 14,874 |
| Australia | 182 | 1:148,328 | 15,783 |
| Germany | 27 | 1:2,981,684 | 140,707 |
| Israel | 21 | 1:407,506 | 32,346 |
| Wales | 20 | 1:154,727 | 10,755 |
| Canada | 12 | 1:3,070,466 | 169,836 |
| South Africa | 7 | 1:7,739,672 | 177,858 |
| Thailand | 7 | 1:10,091,192 | 512,203 |
| Scotland | 5 | 1:1,070,763 | 31,189 |
| Philippines | 2 | 1:50,619,112 | 341,003 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1:4,708,939 | 29,543 |
| China | 1 | 1:1,367,321,566 | 51,149 |
| United States Virgin Islands | 1 | 1:110,375 | 6,934 |
| Brazil | 1 | 1:214,074,332 | 1,693,628 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1:30,855,817 | 63,028 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 1 | 1:112,659 | 1,704 |
| Nicaragua | 1 | 1:6,021,090 | 8,768 |
| Greece | 1 | 1:11,079,790 | 145,225 |
| France | 1 | 1:66,422,722 | 504,397 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 139 | 1:175,362 | 14,652 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 766 | 1:65,560 | 7,140 |
Worcester (27) may also be a first name.
Worcester Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Worcester,' a corruption; v. Worcester.
1567. Buried — Abraham, son of Reynold Woster: St. Antholin (London).
1621. — Henry, s. John Woster: St. James, Clerkenwell.
1658. Married — John Watson and Alice Wooster: ibid.
1726. Baptised — John, s. Robert Wooster: ibid.
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Worcester,' the capital of the county of that name, anciently Wigornaceastre.
Richard de Wygorn, Wiltshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.
Henry de Wygornia, Wiltshire, ibid.
1596. Thomas Worcester, or Worcettor: Register of the University of Oxford.
1610. Arthur Blunt and Ann Worster: Marriage Lic. (London).
1663. Richard Worcester and Mary Gardner: Marriage Alleg. (Canterbury).
1796. Married — Thomas Worcester and Sarah Hammond: St. George, Hanover Square.
(Celtic + Latin) belonging to Worcester, the Domesday Wirecestre, Anglo-Saxon Chron. a.d. 992 Wigera ceaster and a.d. 959 Wigraccester, in numerous charters of the Anglo-Saxon period Wigracester, Wigrecester; Wegorna, Weogorna, Weogurna, Wigurna, Wigorna, Guigorna, Wigarnia, Weogerna, Wegerna, Wigerna.
[The earliest-recorded forms—last decade of the 7th cent.: ‘ad Uuegernensem ecclesiam’ ('Cart. Sax.’ no. 76) and ‘Uuegerna cester’ (‘ C.S.’ no. 77)—together, especially, with the reference in a charter of the 8th-cent. Mercian King Offa to ‘Wigerna civitas’ (‘ C.S.’ no. 216), supply the clue to the etymology—the early form (wic) of Welsh g)wig, M. Welsh g)wic, wood (cp. Welsh coed-wig, forest) + g)wern (= Gaulish vern-), alder, the Latinized Celtic name Wigerna therefore denoting ‘Alder-Wood.’ The forms Wig(e)ra- (noted above), from which the present-day ‘Worcester’ is directly descended, are due to an Anglo-Saxon Wigwara, Wigware, -wara, -ware, meaning ‘inhabitants’ (as in Cantware, ‘people of Kent'). The Huiccii of Bæda (‘Hist. Eccl.’ ii. 2.) has the same Celtic orig. as above. The -cester is the usual Latin castra, a camp]
(English) One who came from Worcester (Roman fort of the Wigoran tribe), in Worcestershire.
A corruption of Worcester.
A corruption of Worcester (which see).
Local. A county and city of England, which Bailey derives from Sax Were, a forest, and Cester, a camp or city. I prefer deriving it from Warcester, the city or castle of strife, from the Saxon Woer, war, strife, with which the ancient British name agrees, called Caerwrangon, the castle or fort of strife and contention. It was a boundary for many years between the Britons and Saxons.
Worcester Demographics
Average Worcester Salary in
United States
$44,920 USD
Per year
Average Salary in
United States
$43,149 USD
Per year
View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States
Worcester Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Worcester Come From? nationality or country of origin
Worcester occurs more in The United States more than any other country or territory. It can also be found in the variant forms:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this name.
How Common Is The Last Name Worcester? popularity and diffusion
Worcester is the 118,025th most commonly occurring last name globally. It is borne by around 1 in 1,870,040 people. The surname Worcester is predominantly found in The Americas, where 84 percent of Worcester reside; 83 percent reside in North America and 83 percent reside in Anglo-North America. Worcester is also the 2,036,353rd most commonly held first name internationally, held by 27 people.
Worcester is most commonly held in The United States, where it is borne by 3,252 people, or 1 in 111,457. In The United States it is most frequent in: Maine, where 10 percent live, California, where 9 percent live and Texas, where 7 percent live. Barring The United States Worcester occurs in 19 countries. It is also common in England, where 9 percent live and Australia, where 5 percent live.
Worcester Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Worcester has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Worcester surname rose 425 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it rose 254 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Worcester Last Name Statistics demography
In The United States those bearing the Worcester last name are 1.77% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 51.46% being registered with the party.
The amount Worcester earn in different countries varies markedly. In United States they earn 4.1% more than the national average, earning $44,920 USD per year and in Canada they earn 41.16% more than the national average, earning $70,132 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
| Surname | Similarity | Worldwide Incidence | Prevalency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worchester | 95 | 53 | / |
| Worscester | 95 | 1 | / |
| Wurcester | 89 | 1 | / |
| Worsester | 89 | 0 | / |
| Warcester | 89 | 0 | / |
| Worcestir | 89 | 0 | / |
| Worcister | 89 | 0 | / |
| Borchester | 84 | 6 | / |
| Warchester | 84 | 4 | / |
| Wardchester | 80 | 1 | / |
| Borgester | 78 | 0 | / |
| Burcheister | 70 | 3 | / |
| Burgester | 67 | 0 | / |
| Burgister | 56 | 0 | / |
Search for Another Surname
Worcester Reference & Research
Worcester DNA Website - A web page dedicated to the genetic research of those who bear the surname and its variants.
Worcester FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.
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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 Worcester
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis