How common is the surname Witherspoon?

13,171 people in the United States had the surname Witherspoon in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,441 Americans. It ranked 2,736th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Witherspoon?

Reese Witherspoon, American actress (born 1976), followed by Jimmy Witherspoon.

Where is the surname Witherspoon most common?

Wikidata records people named Witherspoon in the United States.

Is the surname Witherspoon getting more or less common?

More common. 12,283 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,171 in 2010, up 7.2%.

The surname Witherspoon

An English place surname, carried by 13,171 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex W362

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Witherspoon is more common than 98.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Witherspoon is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 13,171 people named Witherspoon in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 23,441 Americans. That is up 7.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,283.

#2,736

rank among US surnames

13,171

people in 2010

4.5

per 100,000 Americans

+7.2%

change since 2000 (was #2,696)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,727	Parson	13,209	23,374
#2,728	Marlow	13,205	23,381
#2,729	Jeter	13,198	23,393
#2,730	Tong	13,196	23,397
#2,731	Lyle	13,192	23,404
#2,732	Scales	13,190	23,408
#2,733	Segovia	13,182	23,422

Who is named Witherspoon

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

62% of people named Witherspoon identified as Black (not Hispanic), 32% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.2% as two or more races.

Black (not Hispanic) 62%
White (not Hispanic) 32%
Two or more races 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Famous Witherspoons

9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Reese Witherspoon
American actress (born 1976)
Jimmy Witherspoon
American jump blues singer (1920–1997)
Cora Witherspoon
Actress (1890-1957)
Tim Witherspoon
American boxer, born 1957
Reggie Witherspoon
American sprinter, born 1985
Dane Witherspoon
American actor (1957-2014)
Devon Witherspoon
American football player (born 2000)
Herbert Witherspoon
American operatic bass (1873–1935)
Lajon Witherspoon
American singer, born 1972

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Weatherspoon
Wotherspoon

Surnames that sound like Witherspoon

Witherspoon has the Soundex code W362, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W362.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Witherspoon come from?: Scottish habitational surname, perhaps from Middle English wether (“ram”) + spong (“narrow strip of land”).
How common is the surname Witherspoon?: 13,171 people in the United States had the surname Witherspoon in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,441 Americans. It ranked 2,736th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Witherspoon?: In the 2010 Census, 62% of people named Witherspoon identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 32% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Witherspoon?: Reese Witherspoon, American actress (born 1976), followed by Jimmy Witherspoon.
Where is the surname Witherspoon most common?: Wikidata records people named Witherspoon in the United States.
What type of surname is Witherspoon?: Witherspoon is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Witherspoon getting more or less common?: More common. 12,283 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,171 in 2010, up 7.2%.
What are other spellings of Witherspoon?: Weatherspoon and Wotherspoon.