AJHS Person record statistics
Now that the Person record brings together data from burial, marriage and military records, it is a good opportunity to produce some interesting statistics.
There are currently 95,530 Jewish Australians in our database and here is the first attempt to feature the most interesting statistics, and perhaps make for interesting trivia questions around the dinner table.
As a disclaimer, these statistics apply only to the data we have and is not meant to be comprehensive. Please note the data is composed of burial records, marriages before 1945 and military records for the Boer War, WWI and WWII.
To begin, what is the most common surname?
| Surname | Count |
|---|---|
| Cohen | 2139 |
| Levy | 1255 |
| Solomon | 1070 |
| Davis | 837 |
| Marks | 756 |
| Harris | 597 |
| Phillips | 549 |
| Isaacs | 543 |
| Benjamin | 500 |
| Jacobs | 485 |
| Lewis | 471 |
Several patronymic surnames.
What about female first names?
| Given Name | Count |
|---|---|
| Sarah | 990 |
| Esther | 907 |
| Rachel | 898 |
| Rose | 668 |
| Rebecca | 624 |
| Elizabeth | 620 |
| Leah | 519 |
| Miriam | 488 |
| Annie | 479 |
| Eva | 469 |
| Hannah | 429 |
And male first names?
| Given Name | Count |
|---|---|
| Joseph | 1451 |
| David | 1296 |
| Samuel | 1258 |
| Abraham | 1028 |
| Henry | 951 |
| Harry | 849 |
| Jacob | 808 |
| Isaac | 720 |
| John | 661 |
| Louis | 652 |
There are several people who share the same full name in our database. Which are the most common?
Males:
| Name | Count |
|---|---|
| Joseph Cohen | 47 |
| Abraham Cohen | 37 |
| Samuel Cohen | 35 |
| David Cohen | 33 |
| Henry Cohen | 31 |
| David Davis | 30 |
| Joseph Levy | 30 |
| Morris Cohen | 28 |
| Joseph Solomon | 27 |
| Henry Solomon | 26 |
Let’s hear it for the 30 lucky individuals with the name David Davis!
And females:
| Female Name | Count |
|---|---|
| Sarah Cohen | 44 |
| Rachel Cohen | 32 |
| Esther Cohen | 25 |
| Elizabeth Cohen | 23 |
| Sarah Levy | 22 |
| Sarah Solomon | 21 |
| Elizabeth Solomon | 20 |
| Esther Solomon | 20 |
| Sarah Davis | 19 |
| Sarah Marks | 19 |
The most common male given name is Joseph and most common surname is Cohen, so it is no surprise that Joseph Cohen leads full name. The same for Sarah Cohen.
Now on to birth places! Take a look at this map of the world with pins representing birthplaces.
We currently have 45,553 individuals recording a birthplace. This is out of the 95,530 in our database.
You can view a map that allows you to browse all birthplaces by country.
There are a total of 105 countries represented. 105 out of 195 total countries is fairly global!
Which countries top the list?
| Country | POBs |
|---|---|
| Australia | 21946 |
| Poland | 12331 |
| Ukraine | 4830 |
| United Kingdom | 4803 |
| Germany | 2725 |
| Austria | 2549 |
| Hungary | 2479 |
| South Africa | 2435 |
| Israel | 1074 |
| Russia | 1026 |
| Belarus | 841 |
| Romania | 762 |
| New Zealand | 537 |
| Lithuania | 499 |
| Egypt | 471 |
| Slovakia | 463 |
| Moldova | 319 |
| Czechia | 253 |
Now, on to cities. Note that cities are standardised to use the current name. So, if Sandhurst was recorded as a place of birth, we have Bendigo in the person record.
| City | POBs |
|---|---|
| Melbourne | 10488 |
| Sydney | 6824 |
| London | 2954 |
| Warsaw | 2908 |
| Vienna | 2388 |
| Odesa | 2146 |
| Budapest | 1670 |
| Lodz | 1642 |
| Johannesburg | 1576 |
| Berlin | 1250 |
| Perth | 1138 |
| Singapore | 1132 |
Limited to Australia:
| City | POBs |
|---|---|
| Melbourne | 10488 |
| Sydney | 6824 |
| Perth | 1138 |
| Adelaide | 375 |
| Brisbane | 313 |
| Ballarat | 265 |
| Hobart | 99 |
| Bendigo | 77 |
| Newcastle | 74 |
| Geelong | 70 |
What about the United Kingdom?
| City | POBs |
|---|---|
| London | 2954 |
| Manchester | 377 |
| Glasgow | 246 |
| Leeds | 197 |
| Liverpool | 121 |
| Birmingham | 80 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 67 |
| Edinburgh | 35 |
| Hull | 30 |
Not exactly spread out.
Poland:
| City | POBs |
|---|---|
| Warsaw | 2908 |
| Lodz | 1642 |
| Bialystok | 425 |
| Krakow | 322 |
| Czestochowa | 158 |
| Radom | 138 |
| Lowicz | 137 |
| Wroclaw | 133 |
| Sosnowiec | 102 |
You can see the crazy map of Poland, with pins for each birthplace.
Speaking of Poland, it has the most cities with birth places in a country by a landslide. Very spread out.
| Country | City Count |
|---|---|
| Poland | 721 |
| Ukraine | 408 |
| Germany | 381 |
| Australia | 309 |
| Hungary | 249 |
| United Kingdom | 161 |
| Russia | 151 |
| South Africa | 147 |
| Slovakia | 138 |
| Romania | 135 |
There are several countries with only one place of birth recorded:
| Country |
|---|
| Afghanistan |
| Armenia |
| Bangladesh |
| Barbados |
| Belize |
| Botswana |
| Congo |
| Curacao |
| Ecuador |
| Guatemala |
| Kosovo |
| Madagascar |
| Martinique |
| Mauritius |
| Monaco |
| Panama |
| Papua New Guinea |
| Sudan |
| Uganda |
| Yemen |
You may not know that the AJHS also maintains data for our Kiwi neighbours. Where are they from?
| City | POBs |
|---|---|
| Auckland | 160 |
| Wellington | 110 |
| Dunedin | 78 |
| Christchurch | 40 |
| Hastings | 22 |
To conclude, a quick look at individuals:
- The northernmost place of birth belongs to Lauritz Hojein from Vadso, Norway. Lauritz died in service at Gallipoli.
Lest We Forget - The southernmost place of birth is Valerie Robinson (1934-2013), born in Invercargill, New Zealand.
We hope you enjoyed these statistics. Please explore the new Person record and the rest of our data!
We would like to understand how you are using the AJHS collections online. If you find this new Person record helpful, or if there are areas that need improving, please contact us and let us know
-Jeff Schneider, AJHS Web Developer and Collections Specialist