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

Spooner, 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 Spooner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Spooner in America

Spooner is the 4802nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Spooner surname appeared 7,359 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Spooner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Spooner 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 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.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Spooner

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

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 Spooner 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 Spooner 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 Spooner was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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