2000
#8,502
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,570
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.32
Rare Last name
Spies
A Dutch occupational surname referring to a scout, explorer, or investigator.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,834 Americans carry the last name Spies. That puts it at #9,344 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.12 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 89,399 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Spies surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.8K
1 in 89,399
Census rank
#9,344
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,343 bearers of the surname Spies in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.12 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9344th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Spies, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Spies
The surname Spies is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "spie" or "spiez," which means "spy" or "scout." This name likely originated in the Middle Ages, when many surnames were derived from occupations or personal characteristics.
The earliest recorded instances of the Spies surname can be traced back to the 14th century in various regions of Germany. For example, records from the city of Nuremberg mention a person named "Cunrat der Spie" in 1348. Additionally, the name appears in documents from the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt in the late 15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spies surname became more widespread across German-speaking territories, such as Bavaria, Saxony, and Silesia. Some notable individuals bearing this name include Johann Spies (1664-1720), a German composer and organist, and Johannes Spies (1691-1770), a German theologian and author.
As German immigration to North America increased in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Spies surname was carried across the Atlantic. One of the earliest recorded instances of this name in the United States dates back to 1748 in Pennsylvania, with the arrival of Johannes Spies from the Palatinate region of Germany.
Another notable figure with the Spies surname was August Spies (1855-1887), a German-American upholsterer and labor activist who was one of the defendants in the famous Haymarket affair in Chicago. He was convicted of conspiracy and executed in 1887, despite maintaining his innocence.
Other historical figures bearing the Spies surname include Johann Christoph Spies (1770-1829), a German lithographer and inventor, and Wilhelm Spies (1809-1883), a German painter and art professor.
The Spies surname has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Spiesenbach, a small village in Bavaria, and Spiesheim, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate. These place names likely originated from the personal name Spies or its variations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Spies
Among Census respondents with the surname Spies, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Spies bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Spies surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 3,087
- Two or more races2.9% · 98
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 90
- Black or African American1.1% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Spies
Spies appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,279
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,508
-62 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 1.19
Rank movement Down 777 places
2020
#9,344
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,343
-165 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 1.12
Rank movement Down 65 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,502 | 3,570 | 1.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,279 | 3,508 | 1.19 | -62 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 777 places |
| 2020 | #9,344 | 3,343 | 1.12 | -165 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 65 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Spies surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #9,279 | #9,344 | -0.7% |
| Count | 3,508 | 3,343 | -4.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.19 | 1.12 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Spies bearers went from 3,508 to 3,343 (-4.7% change). The surname moved down 65 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,279 to #9,344.
FAQ
Spies surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Spies?
Name Census estimates that about 3,834 living Americans carry the surname Spies. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 89,399 residents.
How common is Spies?
Spies ranks #9,344 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.12 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,343 people with the surname Spies. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,834), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.12 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.12 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Spies.
Has Spies become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Spies went from 3,508 recorded bearers to 3,343. That is a decrease of 165 (-4.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,279 to #9,344.
What does the Census say about the background of Spies?
Among Census respondents with the surname Spies, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Spies in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (3,087 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Spies appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Two or More Races (2.9%), Hispanic (2.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Spies (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Spies mean?
A Dutch occupational surname referring to a scout, explorer, or investigator. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Spies (1.12 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Spies?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.