The ancient Kingdom of Essex was one of the seven that went on to form the Kingdom of England, and the county has a rich history, originating from the Anglo-Saxon period of the early Middle Ages.

Now the seventh most populous county in England, it is likely your ancestors may have lived here at some point, and some of the more obscure surnames might indicate that you have an Essex family history that dates to the 6th century when the kingdom was founded by Aescwine.

Who Do You Think You Are, the popular TV series that explores family people’s ancestry, has compiled a list of top names that originate from Essex. In the years before the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many families lived and died in the same village for hundreds of years. This led to many surnames developing that are unique to certain areas.

The top 10 surnames for Essex family history are:

1. BYFORD

This name is particularly common in the borough of Colchester.

2. DOWSETT

Essex, and specifically Ilford, is a Dowsett hotspot.

3. GENTRY

This surname derives from the Old French word ‘genterie’.

4. MUNSON

The highest concentration of this name can be found in Colchester.

5. OWERS

Owers is common in Durham, Chelmsford, North-East London and Colchester.

6. PLAYLE

Essex once boasted about half of all of the Playles found in the UK.

7. POLLEY

The 1881 census records Polleys as mostly agricultural labourers.

8. ROOT

The name has many derivations. The Middle English rote, for example, means ‘cheerful’.

9. SMEE

Smee is a variant of ‘Smead’.

10. SPURGEON

The Essex Baptist preacher and write Charles Spurgeon founded the children’s charity Spurgeons.

Did you know Finders International keeps an up-to-date Bona Vacantia list, i.e. a list of the unclaimed estates in England Wales. These estates are unclaimed because their owners died without leaving a valid Will and no apparent next of kin to inherit. If you are related to anyone on this list, you could be in line to inherit some or all of that estate. You can check the list here, which details names, date and place of death, and can be filtered by surname, forename, date of death and date of birth (where known).