# Spencer (surname)

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

An English surname originating as an occupation.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 139,951 |
| US rank (2010) | 199 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 2,206 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.1% (134,443 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈspɛnsɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Spenser |

## Etymology

An occupational surname from Middle English Spenser, Spencer, Spensier, from the common noun spenser (“spencer”), denoting someone who works in a spense (“spence”), or as a butler or steward.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Spencer 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) | 69% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Spencer in the United States, Australia, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Spencer

- Octavia Spencer, American actress
- Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and musician
- John Spencer, American actor (1946–2005)
- Percy Spencer, American engineer and inventor (1894–1970)
- Abigail Spencer, American actress
- Richard Spencer, American journalist and politician (b. 1978)
- Chaske Spencer, American actor (born 1975)
- Ashley Spencer, American sprinter
- Emerson Spencer, athletics competitor (1906–1985)
- Robert Bruce Spencer, American anti-Muslim author (1962-)
- Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, British Army general (1706-1758)
- Freddie Spencer, American motorcycle racer

and 37 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Spenser, Spence, Spangler, Spengler, Sponsler, Spencer-Churchill, Spinks, Sappington, Spink, Sapienza, Szczepanski, Spangenberg.

## 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.