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Boy · Old French, through English
Spencer
Say it: SPEN-ser
Meaning
From an English surname for a household steward who dispensed provisions, from Old French despensier.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Associated with the aristocratic Spencer family, it was popular in the US in the 1980s and 1990s.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1990s
In the United States
- 123,722 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1998, about 1 in 414 boys
- 1,275 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Spenser
Famous bearers
- Spencer Tracy, American actor
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.