If someone asks for "shires in order" without specifying, they almost always mean historic shires – the 39 listed above.

It is important to note that the list of 39 is the historic count. If you are asking about current administrative units, the numbers have changed significantly:

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: In current official use, only 23 ceremonial counties retain the literal "-shire" suffix in their name (e.g., Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Oxfordshire).

Below is a complete write-up detailing the definition, the full list in alphabetical order, and the distinction between different types of "shires."

31. Staffordshire 32. Suffolk 33. Surrey 34. Sussex 35. Warwickshire 36. Westmorland (Now part of Cumbria) 37. Wiltshire 38. Worcestershire 39. Yorkshire

Note: Some lists include Huntingdonshire , which was historically a county but is now part of Cambridgeshire for administrative purposes. Historical Origins of the Shires

The question of "how many shires" are in England is more complex than it initially appears because the answer depends on whether you are counting historic counties, ceremonial counties, or administrative divisions.

As of the most recent administrative divisions, there are 48 ceremonial counties in England, which are also sometimes referred to as geographical counties. However, the concept of shires specifically refers to a subset of these counties that end in "-shire."

There are 39 historic counties in England , with 23 of them bearing the "-shire" suffix today. While "shire" and "county" are often used interchangeably, the shire system originated in the Kingdom of Wessex around the 8th century and spread across England by the 10th century. The 39 Historic Counties of England (Alphabetical Order) These traditional divisions have remained a core part of English identity since medieval times. Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumberland Derbyshire Devon (historically Devonshire) Dorset (historically Dorsetshire) Durham Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Huntingdonshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Middlesex Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset (historically Somersetshire) Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Sussex Warwickshire Westmorland Wiltshire Worcestershire Yorkshire The Tale of the Great Survey In the year 1086, King William the Conqueror's commissioners swept across the land to document every hide of earth and every head of cattle for the

Ordering the shires of England can be challenging due to the lack of a universally agreed-upon method. Alphabetical order is one of the most straightforward and commonly used methods: