2000
#4,524
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,209
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.67
Rare Last name
Spooner
One who makes or sells spoons, or a person living near a spoon-shaped geographical feature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,090 Americans carry the last name Spooner. That puts it at #4,853 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.36 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,368 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Spooner 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Spooner with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.1K
1 in 42,368
Census rank
#4,853
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,055 bearers of the surname Spooner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.36 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4853rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Spooner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Hispanic (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Spooner
The surname Spooner has its origins in England, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "sponer," which referred to a maker or seller of spoons. The name likely originated as an occupational surname, denoting someone who made or sold wooden spoons for a living.
In the early days, the surname was often spelled in various ways, including Sponer, Sponere, and Spuner. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a Robert le Sponere from Oxfordshire.
The Spooner name gained prominence in the 14th century, with several mentions in historical records. In the Pipe Rolls of 1332, a John Spooner is listed as a resident of Somerset. The surname also appears in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1334, which record a Thomas Sponere from Gloucestershire.
During the Tudor period, the Spooners were a well-established family in Worcestershire and surrounding areas. One notable member was William Spooner (c. 1520-1595), a wealthy landowner and Member of Parliament for Worcestershire in the 1550s.
In the 17th century, the Spooner name was associated with several notable figures. Jedidiah Spooner (1633-1684) was a prominent Puritan minister in Massachusetts Bay Colony, while William Spooner (1609-1678) was one of the founders of Plymouth Colony, arriving on the ship Anne in 1623.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw the Spooner name spread further across England and beyond. Benjamin Spooner (1736-1820) was a British politician and Member of Parliament for Worcestershire, while Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) was an American political philosopher, essayist, and abolitionist.
Other notable Spooners include Edward Spooner (1811-1892), a British engineer and inventor of the Spooner's vacuum brake for trains, and Alden Spooner (1783-1846), an American entrepreneur and founder of the town of Spooner, Wisconsin, which bears his name.
Throughout its history, the Spooner surname has been associated with various places, including the villages of Spooner Row and Spooner Green in Norfolk, as well as the hamlet of Spooners in Gloucestershire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Spooner
Among Census respondents with the surname Spooner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Hispanic (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Spooner 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 Spooner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 5,747
- Black or African American9.7% · 682
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 289
- Two or more races3.6% · 257
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 25
Timeline
Historical Census data for Spooner
Spooner 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
#4,802
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,359
+150 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 2.49
Rank movement Down 278 places
2020
#4,853
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,055
-304 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 2.36
Rank movement Down 51 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,524 | 7,209 | 2.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,802 | 7,359 | 2.49 | +150 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 278 places |
| 2020 | #4,853 | 7,055 | 2.36 | -304 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 51 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 Spooner 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 | #4,802 | #4,853 | -1.1% |
| Count | 7,359 | 7,055 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 2.49 | 2.36 | -5.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Spooner bearers went from 7,359 to 7,055 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 51 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,802 to #4,853.
FAQ
Spooner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Spooner?
Name Census estimates that about 8,090 living Americans carry the surname Spooner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,368 residents.
How common is Spooner?
Spooner ranks #4,853 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.36 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,055 people with the surname Spooner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,090), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.36 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.36 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Spooner.
Has Spooner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Spooner went from 7,359 recorded bearers to 7,055. That is a decrease of 304 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,802 to #4,853.
What does the Census say about the background of Spooner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Spooner, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Spooner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (5,747 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Spooner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.5%), Black (9.7%), Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Spooner (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 Spooner mean?
One who makes or sells spoons, or a person living near a spoon-shaped geographical feature. 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 Spooner (2.36 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 people have the surname Spooner?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.