Rarity and possible geographical origins

The surnames CONDRAN/CONDREN/CONDRIN/CONDRON are uncommon. In the 1881 census of England and Wales there are 189 people in total with these names (CONDRAN:29, CONDREN:29, CONDRIN:2, CONDRON:129), with a further 33 in the 1881 census of Scotland (CONDRAN:3, CONDREN:3, CONDRIN:9, CONDRON:18). An extract of an Office of National Statistics database of surnames in use in England, Wales and the Isle of Mann in September 2002 (http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names) indicates just over 1000 people with these names, as follows: CONDRAN:21, CONDREN:202, CONDRON:839. In 2002 this makes CONDRON the 7590th most common name in the UK, with CONDRAN and CONDREN being much rarer still (87652th and 21183th respectively).

It seems likely that most if not all lineages of people with these names link back originally to Ireland. Although not a definite indication of ultimate origins, the distribution of householders with the name CONDRON and variants in the Griffiths Valuation of Ireland 1848-1864 is suggestive. The names CONDRAN/CONDREN/CONDRIN/CONDRON are uncommon even in Ireland. In the Griffiths Valuation of Ireland index (http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths.htm) there are only 132 heads of household with these names. Of these, 33 are in County Laois (also known as Leix, formerly Queens County) and 25 in County Offaly (formerly Kings County), suggesting that the names perhaps originate in this central midlands area of Ireland. The next highest aggregations of people with these names are 22 in Dublin (County and City) and 18 in County Kildare. It would be natural for there to have been a migration from the provinces towards Dublin, and Kildare is situated directly between Dublin and the counties of Offaly and Laois.