Spenser
Spenser was the 11803rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 6 babies. Its best year was 1988, when it ranked 503rd with 333 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 5,177 places. More babies were named Spenser in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning (as Spencer) steward, dispenser of provisions · English, Old French
- Rank in 2025
- #11,803 boys, down 4,817 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 6boys
- Girls and boys
- 17% girls, 83% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 1988333 babies
- Total since 1880
- 3,363babies recorded
What does the name Spenser mean?
Spenser is a spelling of Spencer, pronounced the same way, so it shares Spencer's meaning and origin.
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)
Spenser popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | #11,803 | — | 6 |
| 2020 | — | #6,986 | — | 12 |
| 2010 | — | #6,320 | — | 14 |
| 2000 | #14,782 | #1,477 | 6 | 84 |
| 1990 | #3,429 | #688 | 32 | 218 |
| 1980 | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | #4,181 | — | 7 |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Spenser, counting every spelling?
Spenser is a spelling of Spencer, a name family that ranked #369 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #11,803 for Spenser 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 Spenser?
6 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Spenser (0.00 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Spenser 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 1,368 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Spenser.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Spenser?
About 2,900 people born in the US named Spenser are alive today, with a median age of 34; half are between 28 and 37. That makes Spenser mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
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.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Spenser: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Spenser, they share its era and feel.
Questions about the name Spenser
What does Spenser mean?
Spenser is a spelling of Spencer, which means “steward, dispenser of provisions” (English, Old French origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Spenser?
Spenser was the 11803rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 6 babies. Its best year was 1988, when it ranked 503rd with 333 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 5,177 places. More babies were named Spenser in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Spenser a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 17% girls, 83% boys given the name Spenser in the US.