The Kirkham surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,121 people carried this name — #8,032 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 71,400 people counted. That is up 5% from 3,933 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Kirkham surname

A habitational surname from Old English.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kirkham» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Kirkham’.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 456 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Kirkham was found among the farmers of 5 counties.

It was most frequent in Staffordshire: 34 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 294. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Staffordshire 34
Lancashire 20
Cheshire 11
Derbyshire 9
Lincolnshire 8

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Kirkham was recorded 11 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1788th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 15. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Kirkham in American newspapers,
1853–1903.

Newspaper page from Eastern Times carrying the name Kirkham
Eastern Times 1853-01-13
Newspaper page from The Columbus Commercial carrying the name Kirkham
The Columbus Commercial 1903-10-06
Newspaper page from The Houma Courier carrying the name Kirkham
The Houma Courier 1903-10-17

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 20,909 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Kirkham in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.

14,723 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kirkham. The most, 2,313, date from the 1910s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 2.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 4,500
Victoria 4,073
New South Wales 2,267
Western Australia 1,466
Queensland 1,452
Tasmania 874
ACT (Canberra) 76
Northern Territory 2

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kirkham.

Who carried it

People named Kirkham,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Thomas Kirkham d. 1480 · Catholic priest
  • Richard Kirkham d. 1631
  • Leilah Kirkham d. 1904
  • Sir William Kirkham d. 1623
  • Constance Maria Kirkham d. 1959
  • Thomasine Kirkham 1532–1553

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Kirkham,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States505 records

505 records of the Kirkham name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 156
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 115
  • Other U.S. records 234
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record James G. Kirkham

    Born 1924 in New York. Enlisted 1942 at New York City; laboratory technician from Queens County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1982, buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Donald Alan Kirkham

    Born 1945; from Brookfield, Wisconsin. U.S. Navy, hospital corpsman; killed in action 1968 in Thua Thien, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Elizabeth Kirkham

    Arrived at New York in 1848 aboard the Siddons from Liverpool, aged 40; hatter. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 505 records for Kirkham in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia567 records

567 records of the Kirkham name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 274
  • Tasmanian Names Index 130
  • Other Australian records 163
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Charles Allen Kirkham

    Born 1866 in Launceston, Tasmania. Married 1895 in Westbury, Tasmania, aged 29.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Edward Kirkham

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Princess Royal, arriving 1823; certificate of freedom 1829.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Ellen Kirkham

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Gibson Craig, aged 9; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 567 records for Kirkham in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada45 records

45 records of the Kirkham name in Canada
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 12
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 11
  • Other Canadian records 22
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Geo Kirkham

    Came to Ontario in 1873 aboard the Sarmatian, landing at Quebec, bound for London, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record John Thomas Kirkham

    Buried in 1971 at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 88.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Ernest Bruce Kirkham

    Died in service in 1943.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 45 records for Kirkham in Canada.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom33 records

33 records of the Kirkham name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 30
  • Welsh wills index cards 2
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Thomas Kirkham

    Will proved in 1907; of LLanfairfechan, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Kirkham

    Buried in 1831 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 79.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record F. W. Kirkham

    Sapper, Royal Engineers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 33 records for Kirkham in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand2 records

2 records of the Kirkham name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Samuel Kirkham

    Died 1964, aged 79; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Florence Mary Kirkham

    Died 1933, aged 52; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Kirkham.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Kirkham is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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