BAYES' IN THE UK  Page 2


Bayes map
  Introduction

Most of the activity on the Internet for the name Bayes appears to be from researchers in the United States of America.    In 1989, the total population of folk called Bayes in the USA was estimated at 2000.  Ohio appears to be the state where most Bayes' live.

However, there are about as many Bayes' in the United Kingdom.  There are more Bayes' living in Northamptonshire than any other county.  The rough map on the left, gives an idea where Bayes' are in the UK.

Note the 'hot-spots' in London and Birmingham, (not unsurprisingly as they are the largest conurbations), but more importantly, Northamptonshire, North Worcestershire, Lincoln, Sheffield,  Bridlington, Hull and Scarborough.

Bayes Street Sign

Out of curiosity, I looked up any roads, streets, etc. in the UK called Bayes. 
As far as I know, there are five:

    Bayes Close, London, SE26.
    Bayes Lane, Forncett St. Mary, Norwich, NR16.
    Bayes Road, Skegness, Lincolnshire, PE25.
    Bayes Row, Hunmanby, Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14.
    and
    Bayes Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN16.   
   (Tom Bayes of Rothwell, Northants.,  kindly supplied me with the picture of the namesign shown at the top of this section.  
   His Father, Maurice Bayes, used to work in Bayes Street, Kettering and was Mayor of the Borough in 2006/7).

(Needless to say, if you know of any more Bayes Roads, Streets, etc. details will be will be gratefully accepted and added to this list ).




I have found another place called Bayes.  OK, I admit it is nowhere near the UK;  in fact, it's in the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the world!

This Bayes is in New Caledonia, an Overseas Territory of the Republic of France, which is about 900 miles (1440 Km) to the East-North-East of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

Bayes is at the Latitude of 20°57'25" South and at the Longitude of 165°24'27" East.

A guy called MacBrain has put some photos on Flickr, of this place called Bayes.  
Happily, he has no problem with me linking to his Flickr photos.

New Caledonia

In Auckland, New Zealand, there is a fleet of coaches run by the family firm of Bayes Coachlines.

Bayes Coachlines is a family business that has operated for over 30 years in the New Zealand transport and tourism industry.

I managed to photograph this member of the fleet on Mount Eden, the highest point in the fine City of Auckland.
Bayes Bus


Statistics from the 1881 Census

I counted up the number of Bayes' and also Bays' in the UK in 1881.  There were 893 Bayes' and 352 Bays'.  I have tabulated them below, by county.

County Bayes Bays County Bayes Bays County Bayes Bays
Ayrshire 1 - Hertfordshire 1 5 Nottinghamshire 29 5
Bedfordshire 64 3 Huntingdon - 3 Oxfordshire 5 1
Berkshire - 1 Kent 20 - Somerset - 2
Buckinghamshire 1 9 Lancashire 21 - Staffordshire 11 -
Cambridgeshire - 28 Leicestershire 12 - Suffolk 5 16
County Durham 28 16 Lincolnshire 30 6 Surrey 23 19
Cumberland 5 1 London & Middlesex 110 58 Sussex - 20
Derbyshire 1 - Monmouth 1 - Warwickshire 17 2
Devonshire 3 1 Norfolk 119 34 Wiltshire - 6
Essex 1 - Northamptonshire 175 43 Worcestershire 59 18
Hampshire & IoW 5 3 Northumberland 5 - Yorkshire 141 52


Origins of the name: BAYES

One source says:

Bays is a patronymic form of the English and French nickname Bay, which described the man with the chestnut or auburn hair, derived from Old French and Middle English bay, bai = reddish-brown.  Bai is a French variation. 

Bayo is a Spanish cognate and Baaij, Bay are found among the Dutch.  Bayet is a diminutive French form, and diminutive forms found in Provencal include Bayol, Bajol, Bajolet, Bayoux. 

Bays and Bayes are patronymic forms meaning "son of Bay".


Ramona Gayle Bayes Woods, (who looks after us all on BAYES-L.rootsweb), says:
"We also have BAYEAUX from France who connect to the BAYEAUX family of Portugal."

Another definition I have seen is:
Patronymic, derived from the old English given name Baega.

There is a school of thought that there is a Hugenot connection.

However, it has to be mentioned, that one theory of the origin of the name is from BASE, meaning illegitimate!

In a World Biographical Index web site, K.G.Saur Publishing:
I found four Spanish people called BAYÉS, (these are listed in the More Notable Bayes' page of this web site).

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Last amended: 5th March 2010