Balfe family name history and map
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Balfe in 1911 Ireland
The 1911 Census recorded 472 people named Balfe in Ireland; roughly one in every 9,300 people carried the name. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 243 men and 226 women. (A small number, 3, had no sex recorded.)
Counties with Balfe in Ireland
Dublin was Balfe country: 35% of them (165 people) lived there in 1911. Next came Wicklow (77), Meath (52), Westmeath (45) and Wexford (39).
Balfe average age in 1911
The average Balfe in 1911 was 28.5 years old, 29.1 for men and 27.9 for women; a touch younger than the national averages of 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. That low figure reflects just how many children there were in Edwardian Ireland, along with high infant mortality and the limits of public health at the time. For comparison, average life expectancy in Ireland today is around 83.
Balfe literacy in 1911
Of the Balfes whose literacy was recorded, 82.9% could both read and write, 2.9% could read but not write, and 14.2% could do neither. Women came out slightly ahead, 84.8% reading and writing against 81.1% of men. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.
Balfe common first names
The most common male names were Patrick (33), James, John, William and Thomas. For women it was Mary (24), followed by Margaret, Bridget, Annie and Elizabeth.
Balfe occupations in 1911
The most common entry on a Balfe's census form was "Scholar"; 16.1% (76) were children at school. Among the rest, the most common occupations were general labourer (9.5%), farmer (8.5%), farm labourer (3.6%) and domestic servant (3.4%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 13.3% of all Balfes, followed by general labourers, domestic service and textiles & clothing.
What religion is Balfe?
Balfes were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, 98.3% of them.
Visitor Notes
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Added by
Pete F
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Balfe statistics (1911)
Number: 472
Rank: 1,403
Average Age: 29
Balfe in the USA (2020)
Number: 514
Rank: 44,906
Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero.
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