Kells family name history and map

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Kells in 1911 Ireland

The 1911 Census recorded 387 people named Kells in Ireland; roughly one in every 11,000 people carried the name. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 190 men and 197 women.

Counties with Kells in Ireland

Cavan was Kells country: 31.5% of them (122 people) lived there in 1911. Next came Antrim (51), Dublin (51), Fermanagh (26) and Monaghan (24).
Surname distribution map, 1911 census

Kells average age in 1911

The average Kells in 1911 was 27.7 years old, 28.0 for men and 27.4 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.

Kells literacy in 1911

Of the Kellses whose literacy was recorded, 82.7% could both read and write, 5.1% could read but not write, and 12.3% could do neither. Men came out slightly ahead, 83.7% reading and writing against 81.7% of women. 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.

Kells common first names

The most common male names were Robert (21), William, John, Richard and Edward. For women it was Margaret (10), followed by Mary, Annie, Jane and Mary Jane.

Kells occupations in 1911

The most common occupation among Kellses was farmer, 20.7% of them (80 people). Next came scholar / student (19.9%), textile worker (4.4%), shopkeeper / shop assistant / dealer (2.8%) and general labourer (2.6%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 22% of all Kellses, followed by textiles & clothing, domestic service and retail & commerce.

What religion is Kells?

Most Kellses, 69.8%, were Anglican. The remainder were mostly Presbyterian (12.9%), Roman Catholic (9.8%), Methodist (2.3%) and Non-Conformist (1.8%).
Map showing where Anglican families of this surname lived in Ireland, 1911 census

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Kells statistics (1911)

Number: 387
Rank: 1,615
Average Age: 28

Kells in the USA (2020)

Number: 1,088
Rank: 24,007

Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero. 

Ref: kells

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