This dataset combines historical electoral roll and linked consumer register data (on surnames, forenames and locations) between 1997 and 2020, with a special aggregated metric derived from ONS data* which lists the most frequently selected second-level ethnicity category for most common forenames and surnames - see the section 'What is the recommended ethnic group question for use on a survey in England?' at https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/measuring...

Aggregated ethnicity categories used are (with codes used in the data files):

• ABD - Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi
• ACN - Asian/Asian British: Chinese
• AIN - Asian/Asian British: Indian
• APK - Asian/Asian British: Pakistani
• AAO - Asian/Asian British: Any Other
• BAF - Black/Black British: African
• BCA - Black/Black British: Caribbean
• WBR - White: British (including English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish)
• WIR - White: Irish
• WAO - White: Any Other
• OXX - Any Other Ethnic Group (including Mixed; Black/Black British: Any Other; Arab; All Other Ethnicities; &c.)

Applicants should be mindful that this is a dataset of ethnicity categories and not one showing migration, citizenship, nationality or country of origin.

An older version of this dataset was first used for the GISRUK Data Challenge in early 2018. The data distributed here is has been updated with new data and so is not directly comparable with the challenge dataset.

The roll/registers have been linked together, allowing inferring and cleaning to take place, in order to provide population continuity and result in a smoother, higher quality temporal dataset.

*The data was derived as part of a ESRC-funded project 'Ethnicity Estimator' - Virtual Microdata Laboratory project number: 0000013. It is a diagnostic table resulting from the application of CDRC algorithms. The aggregate data was provided by ONS within the VML.