Ed Parsons points to Spatial-Literacy.org, a site that maps surname distribution in the U. K. The site just become operational yesterday and is experiencing high traffic volumes but it's worth a look, particularly if you have an English, Welsh or Scottish ancestry. It provides a distribution map of a selected surname for 1881 or 1998.

Spatial-Literacy.org “is hosted by University College London to provide resources and information on a variety of teaching, research and outreach activities, and to act as a portal to guide best practice across a range of public sector geographic information system (GIS) activities.” Currently, other than the surname search, it’s offerings appear rather slim.

Read the BBC story on the site.