# Spain (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/spain/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English ethnic surname transferred from the nickname for someone with Spanish ancestry.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 11,628 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,093 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 26,552 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.5% (11,232 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /speɪn/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Spayen |

## Etymology

From Middle English Spayne, from Anglo-Norman Espayne, from Late Latin Spania, from earlier Latin Hispānia. Displaced Old English Ispania, which was borrowed directly from Latin. Doublet of Hispania.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Spain in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 73% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 20% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.0% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Spain in the United States.

## People named Spain

- Ken Spain, American basketball player (1946–1990)
- Francis Spain, American ice hockey player (1909–1977)
- Fay Spain, American film and television actress (1932–1983)

## Similar surnames

Spann, Spano, Spina, Spahn, Sapien, Spinney, Spino, Span, Supan, Sabin, Savino, Sabino.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.