Spencer
Spencer was the 360th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 908 babies. Its best year was 1998, when it ranked 84th with 4,619 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 108 places. More babies were named Spencer in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning steward, dispenser of provisions · English, Old French
Say it SPEN-ser /ˈspɛnsər/
- Rank in 2025
- #360 boys, down 43 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 908boys
- Girls and boys
- 20% girls, 80% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19984,619 babies
- Total since 1880
- 129,638babies recorded
What does the name Spencer mean?
Spencer is an English occupational surname for the person who kept and gave out a household's provisions, a steward or butler. It comes from Middle English spenser, short for dispenser, from Old French. Harrison (1918) glosses it "dispenser of provisions, buttery or larder keeper". The Spencer family of the Earls Spencer, ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, made it well known.
despensier (Old French, “dispenser, steward”)spenser (Middle English, “steward, keeper of provisions”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Spenser, Spence.
See also: English names, names from occupations.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Spencer', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Henry Harrison, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary, vol. 2 (1918), s.v. 'SPENCER', Morland Press (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
Spencer popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,025 | #360 | 245 | 908 |
| 2020 | #1,053 | #317 | 238 | 1,046 |
| 2010 | #3,007 | #227 | 57 | 1,555 |
| 2000 | #1,774 | #98 | 99 | 4,044 |
| 1990 | #1,227 | #105 | 137 | 3,419 |
| 1980 | #4,488 | #287 | 17 | 721 |
| 1970 | #6,286 | #291 | 8 | 717 |
| 1960 | #7,173 | #422 | 5 | 358 |
| 1950 | #6,003 | #378 | 5 | 322 |
| 1940 | — | #351 | — | 262 |
| 1930 | — | #483 | — | 153 |
| 1920 | — | #393 | — | 229 |
| 1910 | — | #344 | — | 54 |
| 1900 | — | #324 | — | 44 |
| 1890 | — | #321 | — | 30 |
| 1880 | — | #282 | — | 35 |
How popular is Spencer, counting every spelling?
Spencer is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #369 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #360 for Spencer on its own. Together these spellings went to 914 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer | 908 | #360 | 4,696 |
| Spenser | 6 | #11,803 | 38 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Spencer?
908 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Spencer (0.25 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Spencer born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 9 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Spencer.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Spencer?
About 111,000 people born in the US named Spencer are alive today, with a median age of 29; half are between 21 and 36. That makes Spencer mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Spencer by state
How common Spencer was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Maine (2.8×), New Hampshire (2.6×), West Virginia (2.5×), Iowa (2.2×), Missouri (2.0×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Nevada, California, Hawaii.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Spencer: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Spencer, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Spencer · Sibling names for Spencer
Questions about the name Spencer
What does Spencer mean?
Spencer means “steward, dispenser of provisions” (English, Old French origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Spencer?
Spencer was the 360th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 908 babies. Its best year was 1998, when it ranked 84th with 4,619 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 108 places. More babies were named Spencer in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Spencer a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 20% girls, 80% boys given the name Spencer in the US.
Where is Spencer most popular?
In 2021–2025, Spencer was most common in Wyoming (1.73 per 1,000 boys), followed by Alaska and Maine.