Spencer
A masculine name of English origin meaning "estate manager".
Name Census estimates that about 117,394 living Americans carry the first name Spencer. It sits at #388 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (95.7% of registrations). The average person named Spencer today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Spencer births was 1998 (4,780 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Spencer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Spencer with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Spencer is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 5,461 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
117K
~ 1 in 2,920 Americans
Peak year
1998
4,780 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#388
Tracked since 1880
Census
Spencer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 106,320 people with the first name Spencer, which placed it at #530 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#530
National first-name rank
People counted
106K
106,320 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
35.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Spencer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spencer is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Spencer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Spencer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 87,070
- Black or African American6.1% · 6,495
- Two or more races4.7% · 4,960
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 4,639
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 2,536
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 620
Gender
Gender distribution for Spencer
Spencer leans heavily male at 95.7% of total registrations, but 5,461 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Spencer as a male name
- Ranked #388 in 2024
- 840 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (4,619 births)
Spencer as a female name
- Ranked #1,119 in 2024
- 216 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (267 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Spencer leans strongly male. 102,390 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 3,933 female bearers (3.7%).
Popularity
Spencer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Spencer from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 39,492 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Spencer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Spencer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Spencers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Spencer, while Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,382 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Spencer
The name Spencer has its origins in the medieval English language, derived from the Old French word "despensier," which means "steward" or "keeper of provisions." The name originated in the 12th century and was initially used as an occupational surname for those who worked as stewards or oversaw household provisions.
In the early 13th century, the name gained prominence when Hugh le Despenser became a powerful nobleman and royal adviser to King Edward II of England. He held the position of Lord Chamberlain and was instrumental in the administrative and financial affairs of the kingdom. However, his involvement in the overthrow of Edward II and the subsequent persecution of the queen led to his eventual execution in 1326.
The name Spencer began to be used as a given name in the late Middle Ages, although it remained relatively uncommon until the 16th century. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name as a given name was Spencer Compton, born in 1601, who later became the 2nd Earl of Northampton.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Spencer. One of the most famous was Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1809 until his assassination in 1812, making him the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.
Another prominent figure was Spencer Trask (1844-1909), an American banker and philanthropist who played a significant role in financing various industries, including railroads and mining ventures.
In the literary world, Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887) was an American naturalist and the first curator of the Smithsonian Institution, while Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) was a renowned American actor who won two Academy Awards and was nominated nine times.
Spencer Cavendish (1833-1908), the 8th Duke of Devonshire, was a prominent British statesman and politician who served as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords.
The name Spencer has maintained a steady presence throughout history, reflecting its origins as an occupational surname and its eventual adoption as a given name among the English nobility and upper classes. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it has endured as a name with a rich historical legacy.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Spencer
People
Spencer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Spencer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Spencer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Spencer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117,394 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Spencer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,920 US residents.
Is Spencer a common name?
We classify Spencer as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128,474 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Spencer most popular?
The single biggest year for Spencer was 1998, when 4,780 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Spencer is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Spencer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 106,320 people with the name Spencer, or 35.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #530 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Spencer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Spencer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Spencer leans strongly male. 102,390 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 3,933 female bearers (3.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Spencer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spencer is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Spencer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Spencer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (87,070 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Spencer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Spencer a male name?
Yes, 95.7% of people registered as Spencer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Spencer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Spencer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Spencer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Spencer?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.