Of the thousands of names of Redbridge residents, a study has revealed that only two names dominate the borough - Smith and Patel.

Patel is narrowly the most common name in the borough, coming top in 11 out of 21 wards, while Smith takes up the remaining 10.

The second most popular names present a more diverse picture, with Singh, Khan and Cohen appearing in many areas.

Other common names include Brown, Taylor and Williams.

The study by researchers at University College London, Birmingham University and City University London used the 2007 Electoral Roll to rank names in Britain’s 8,920 electoral wards.

Their findings in Redbridge reflect the results of the 2011 census, which showed higher concentrations of South Asian residents in south eastern parts of the borough compared to the north west.

Countries including India (Patel) and Pakistan (Khan) are represented along with England (Smith, Brown, Taylor) and Wales (Williams, Jones).

Redbridge’s diverse religions are also reflected in the Sikh names of Singh and Kaur, and Jewish Cohen.

One of the study’s researchers, Dr. Muhammad Adnan, said the names show the “ethnic mix” of areas.

The group is comparing the results with Twitter usernames.

See the full study at www.uncertaintyofidentity.com.