A recent research project based at University College London (UCL) has investigated the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic, in order to understand patterns of regional economic development, population movement and cultural identity. The CASA website allows users to search the databases that have been created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names.
Worth a look if you want to trace the density of any given surname in a population.

At first I presumed that this study has ignored mainland Europe, however when I searched on another of my family names ‘Norris’ I found the Norris surname scattered throughout Europe including unexpected areas such as Russia and Turkey. I can only presume that in 1881 and 1898 the vast majority of Morts actually did live in England and Wales and the Morts from Canada/ Australia/ New Zealand and the USA were most likely immigrants from the UK. There has to be at least 100 people with a given surname within a given area to register on the database.

Interestingly enough, my home birth town of Leigh in Lancashire had the greatest population of Morts in the world. Please read on and check out this amazing website for other surnames that may interest you.

However still a useful site http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Surnames.aspx

Here is what we found on the Mort’s:-

Social Demographics:
Category of surname is shown as English, Other, Regional, North Western
4% of people have a more rural name
82% of people have a more high status name
The cultural, ethnic, linguistic category of this surname is British
The index of Mosaic type is 171

* Mosaic is a classification designed to describe typical characteristics of local neighbourhoods. Each postcode is classified into one of 61 different types, each of which has a description of the typical type of person living at that location, based on the demographic and economic characteristics of the area and taking into account things like shopping habits, culture and lifestyles.

Geographical Spread:
In 1881 the area of Britain most populated with Morts was Wigan.
In 1998 the area of Britain most populated with Morts was Bolton.
The top area index was 1381.
In Britain the postal town with the most recorded number of Mort’s was Leigh.
In Australia the state populated with the most Mort’s was Western Australia with a top area index of 298.
In Australia the top standard statistical division was Pallinup, West Australia.
New Zealand top province was Otago with an index of 220.
United States top state is Idaho with an index of 546.
Nothing is recorded for Africa or Asia.

International Comparisons of the Mort surname:

Great Britain
In 1998 the British index of Mort surnames was 1790 and this relates to 100%
As a % of the British rate in 1998, the rest of the worlds Morts are recorded as -
Northern Ireland 63.7% of the GB rate
Republic of Ireland 0% of the GB rate
Australia 72.7% of the GB rate
New Zealand 23.6% of the GB rate
United States 40% of the GB rate
Canada 18% of the GB rate

* Meaning of an 'index' : An 'index' shows whether the level of something is higher in one area than it is in another area. In this instance we are interested in whether the number of occurrences of a name per million population is higher in a particular area than it is elsewhere. Thus we compare the incidence of a name in the US state where it is most concentrated with the average level of concentration in the whole of the US; the incidence in Australia's top state with the Australian average; the incidence in New Zealand's top province with the New Zealand average; the incidence in GB's top postal area with the GB average.

NB: It is interesting to note that the name Morte (often confused with Mort) only seems to be present in North and South Yorkshire.