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| Website maps surnames worldwide | Website maps surnames worldwide |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A website which maps global surnames has been launched to help people find the origins of their name and how far it may have spread. | A website which maps global surnames has been launched to help people find the origins of their name and how far it may have spread. |
| The Public Profiler site plots eight million last names using data from electoral rolls and phone directories. | |
| The site covers 300 million people in 26 countries, showing the origins of names and where families have moved to. | |
| David Beckham, for example, has an English name, but there are more Beckhams in the US than Britain. | David Beckham, for example, has an English name, but there are more Beckhams in the US than Britain. |
| But the region of the world with the highest concentration of people called Beckham was even further from the footballer's east London origins - in the New Zealand province of Northland. | |
| The site - www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames - also reveals which of the five million forenames are most closely associated with different surnames and lists the top regions and cities for each surname. | |
| A name is now not just a statement of who you are but where you are Professor Paul Longley Public Profiler: World Names (may be slow due to heavy demand) | A name is now not just a statement of who you are but where you are Professor Paul Longley Public Profiler: World Names (may be slow due to heavy demand) |
| It was developed by a team of geographers from University College London. | It was developed by a team of geographers from University College London. |
| Professor Paul Longley, one of the researchers, said: "The information is not just historical but geographical. | Professor Paul Longley, one of the researchers, said: "The information is not just historical but geographical. |
| "We can link names to places - a name is now not just a statement of who you are but where you are." | "We can link names to places - a name is now not just a statement of who you are but where you are." |
| Most surnames originated in specific places in the world and remain most frequent in those areas, but have often spread to other countries because of migration, the research showed. | Most surnames originated in specific places in the world and remain most frequent in those areas, but have often spread to other countries because of migration, the research showed. |
| Searches for Britain's three multi-gold medallists at the recent Olympics and the leaders of the three main political parties revealed some mixed results. | Searches for Britain's three multi-gold medallists at the recent Olympics and the leaders of the three main political parties revealed some mixed results. |
| • Swimmer Rebecca Adlington's surname is most prevalent in New Zealand | • Swimmer Rebecca Adlington's surname is most prevalent in New Zealand |
| • Cyclist Chris Hoy's surname is Irish but more common in Denmark | • Cyclist Chris Hoy's surname is Irish but more common in Denmark |
| • Cyclist Bradley Wiggins's surname is most popular in the US | • Cyclist Bradley Wiggins's surname is most popular in the US |
| • Prime Minister Gordon Brown's surname tops the list in Australia | • Prime Minister Gordon Brown's surname tops the list in Australia |
| • Conservative leader David Cameron's surname is most prevalent in New Zealand | • Conservative leader David Cameron's surname is most prevalent in New Zealand |
| • Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's surname is still most common in Britain | • Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's surname is still most common in Britain |
| Prof Longley said that the site was currently struggling to cope with demand. | Prof Longley said that the site was currently struggling to cope with demand. |
| "We are being deluged with requests and we ask people to be patient. There is obviously a lot of interest in family names and family history globally," he said. | "We are being deluged with requests and we ask people to be patient. There is obviously a lot of interest in family names and family history globally," he said. |