Patel most popular surname in the UK

The surname ‘Patel’ is one of the most popular surnames in the UK, a study indicated today. According to a study of top 500 British surnames, Patel comes 20th.

The surname ‘Patel’ is one of the most popular surnames in the UK, a study indicated today. According to a study of top 500 British surnames, Patel comes 20th.

The study published in The Observer today stated that most of the Patels are found in Harrow in the UK. Patels originally come from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka and the word originate from Sanskrit, meaning ‘Tenant of royal land’, village headman.

This official title is now used as a surname by many people worldwide, but is more common in Britain than in other English-speaking countries with a significant Indian population.

Story continues below this ad

There were as many as 24,691 Patels in Harrow as early as in 1881. The latest figure, however, is not mentioned.

Next to Patel, Singh is another popular surname in the UK — 76th among top 500 British surnames. A majority of them live in Wolverhampton and in 1881 there were 23,321 persons with Singh as surname in Wolverhampton.

Similarly, Kaur, the surname popular with Sikh women is 99th in the list.

Among the English surnames, Smith is the most popular and takes the top position followed by Jones, Williams, Brown, Taylor, Davies and Wilson.