When is a bread roll not a bread roll? When you’re in the North East, North West and parts of the Midlands, according to new data from YouGov Profiles.
Almost 25,000 English people were asked what name they most often used for a bread roll, with the results uncovering significant regional variations.
Barm Cake or Barm is the most commonly used term in Greater Manchester, although because there is such a diversity of names used in Manchester this only amounts to between 30-39% of Mancunians.
The name is also relatively popular in Lancashire and Merseyside where it ties for first place with bread roll. The term also falls into the 20-29% bracket in Cheshire also it is not the most popular option here.
Meanwhile researchers found the term Muffin almost exclusively used in Greater Manchester where it is about as commonly used as bread roll / roll.
Head to the North East and Bun is a favoured name with the majority of people in the counties of Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland being most likely to use this term. Noticeable minorities in North Yorkshire and Cumbria also use the term, as well as smaller minorities in Lincolnshire, Merseyside and East Riding of Yorkshire.
The term cob is particularly popular in some sections of the Midlands, with it being the preferred term among a majority of people in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, as well as smaller minorities in the West Midlands metropolitan county , Staffordshire and Worcestershire.
However, bread roll is by far the most commonly used term, and the only one that is well-represented across the whole country. A slim majority of all English people say this is the name they use most often, with this figure being much higher in the counties that make up the South of England.
