On surnames ...

Just visited the highly interesting "Surname profiler" site and had a look at the geographical spread and prominence of the surnames Richardson (left: 1881, right: 1998):

And Melrose (left: 1881, right: 1998):











Both Northern names, with Richardson being far more prominent than Melrose; which ranks too low to score in 1998 (i.e. a surname which is, relatively speaking, disappearing in the UK).
Here's some more info (to bore you ..):
On the Surname Profiler Project Website (I'm not sure if there are any copyrights ..):
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. This website allows users to search the databases that we have created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names.