# Witherspoon (surname)

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

A surname from Middle English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 13,171 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,736 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 23,441 people |
| Change since 2000 | +7.2% (12,283 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Weatherspoon, Wotherspoon |

## Etymology

Scottish habitational surname, perhaps from Middle English wether (“ram”) + spong (“narrow strip of land”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Witherspoon 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) | 32% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 62% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 3.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Witherspoon in the United States.

## People named Witherspoon

- Reese Witherspoon, American actress (born 1976)
- Jimmy Witherspoon, American jump blues singer (1920–1997)
- Cora Witherspoon, actress (1890-1957)
- Tim Witherspoon, American boxer
- Reggie Witherspoon, American sprinter
- Dane Witherspoon, American actor (1957-2014)
- Devon Witherspoon, American football player (born 2000)
- Herbert Witherspoon, American operatic bass (1873–1935)
- Lajon Witherspoon, American singer

## Similar surnames

Weatherspoon, Waiters, Withers, Watterson, Waters, Weathers, Watters, Whitehurst, Weathersby, Waterhouse, Watrous, Wittrock.

## 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.