The way people in Scotland lived has changed considerably over the decades

In the late 1850s, a typical male would have been called John Smith and would have had a life expectancy of 40.

By 2000 the average Scottish male might have been called Lewis Brown, had a one in 200 chance of dying before his first birthday and a life expectancy of 74.

These snippets of information were published on Friday in the registrar general's 150th annual report.

Since the 1850s the reviews have been looking at demographic trends affecting Scotland's population.

Over the past 140 years, the country's share of the population of the UK fell from 12.5% in 1861 to 8.6% in 2001.

AVERAGE SCOT IN 1850s Called John Smith or Mary Macdonald One in seven chance of dying before first birthday Lived almost two to a room Women married at 25 and men married at 27 One in three chance of being married in their 20s Life expectancy at birth was 40 for men and 44 for women

In 1861 almost three quarters of the country's residents who were born outside Scotland hailed from Ireland, but that fell to less than a tenth in 2001.

In 1901, those born outside the British Isles were most likely to have come from other parts of Europe and America, but in 2001 they came from Asia and Europe.

The number of Gaelic speakers has fallen by three quarters in the last 100 years.

Over the decades housing standards have improved - there were almost two people per room in 1861 but less than half a person per room in 2001.

In the mid-19th century there were about 35 births per year per 1,000 population, by the end of the 20th century this rate was about 10.

About one in seven children died in the first year of life in the second half of the 19th century, compared with about one in 200 in 2004.

'Very different place'

Expectation of life at birth for females has risen by 35 years since the mid-19th century. The figure has been consistently higher than for males, although the gap has been decreasing recently.

The number of centenarians stood at about 20 in the 50 years to 1960, since when it has risen to almost 300.

AVERAGE SCOT AT END OF 20th CENTURY Called Lewis Brown or Emma Smith One in 200 chance of dying before their first birthday Two rooms to every person Men married at 32 and women married at 29 One in seven chance of being married in their 20s Life expectancy at birth was 74 for men and 79 for women

When civil marriages were introduced in 1940 they made up about a tenth of all marriages, but in 2004 half of all weddings were civil ceremonies.

The Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, said: "Scotland today is a very different place from Scotland in the mid-1850s.

"The total population, in the 1851 Census, was 2.89 million compared with 5.08 million in 2004.

"Over 93,000 babies were born in 1855, compared to only 54,000 in 2004.

"Since 1855, the death rate has fallen from 24 people per 1,000 population to 11 people in 2004.

"This was due, in part, to the ending of the epidemics of smallpox, whooping cough and measles which were of great concern to the registrar general in 1855.