Find out how popular the last name Spaits is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Spaits.

Spaits, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Spaits surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Spaits in America

Spaits is the 158432nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Spaits surname appeared 102 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Spaits.

We can also compare 2010 data for Spaits to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Spaits

The surname SPAITS originated in Germany, likely in the early to mid-16th century. It is believed to be derived from the German word "spaten," meaning "spade" or "shovel," which may have been a reference to an occupation or a descriptive nickname related to digging or working the land.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SPAITS can be found in the church records of the town of Heidelberg, where a certain Hans Spaits was mentioned as a resident in 1572. The name also appears in various other historical records from the region, including tax rolls and legal documents from the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the late 17th century, a family by the name of Spaits settled in the town of Worms, located in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. This branch of the family is known to have produced several notable individuals, including Johann Spaits (1702-1778), a respected scholar and theologian who authored several works on religious philosophy.

As the name spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Spayts, Spaytz, and Spaitze. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and local pronunciation patterns.

One notable figure from the 18th century was Friedrich Spaits (1720-1792), a German merchant and trader who established a successful business importing goods from the Netherlands and exporting German products to other European markets. His success helped to establish the SPAITS name as a respected and prosperous merchant family in the region.

In the 19th century, the name SPAITS gained further prominence with the birth of Wilhelm Spaits (1819-1892), a renowned architect who designed several iconic buildings in Berlin and other major German cities. His most famous work is the Prussian State Library, now known as the Berlin State Library, which is considered a masterpiece of neo-Renaissance architecture.

Another significant individual from this period was Emma Spaits (1847-1922), a pioneering educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded several schools for girls in her hometown of Frankfurt and worked tirelessly to promote equal educational opportunities for women in Germany.

As the SPAITS name spread beyond Germany's borders in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became associated with various notable individuals in other parts of Europe and the Americas. One such person was Josef Spaits (1865-1928), an Austrian-born artist and painter who gained recognition for his landscapes and portraits depicting rural life in the Alpine regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Spaits

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Spaits.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Spaits was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Spaits has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Spaits was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Spaits, please contact us.

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