EAST Lancashire is full of Nutters! A survey of surnames has revealed that the area has more people bearing the name than anywhere else in Britain.

The study, by global information company Experian, looked at more than 30,000 surnames throughout the British Isles.

The other novel names found in a higher than usual concentration in East Lancashire were Sowerbutts, Chopdat and Grime.

Christine Moore, secretary of the Blackburn Local History Society, has done some research into Lancashire surnames.

She said: "Sowerbutts and Nutter are both Pendle names. The two families were in cahoots around the 16th century and of course Grace Sowerbutts and Alice Nutter were Pendle witches.

"Nutter would not have meant what we think of today, crazy, it would have been someone who grew a crop of nuts - something that was harvestable."

She said the meaning of surnames could often be found by breaking the word down into parts - which suggested Sowerbutts was something to do with pigs. Bruno Rost from Experian said: "Britain has a great tradition of surnames, many of which date back to the Middle Ages.

"The three main influences - Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic - have left us with a rich heritage of fascinating names and hours of amusement for the amateur etymologist.

"Many of our surnames date back to medieval nicknames such as Tatters, Wildgoose, Bodfish and Biggerstaff, and of course a great number relate to local place names."

East Lancashire is not the only area with its share of unusual names - Lancaster has plenty of people called Woof, Heavyside, Physick and Goad, while Liverpool is full of Cringles, Jellicoes, Wafers and Quirks.

Chester is tops for Totty and if you want a Tickle, Warrington is the place to go.

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