How rare is the name Spencer?

106,323 people in the United States have the first name Spencer, about 1 in 2,841. It ranks #530 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SPENCER

#530

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
106,323
About
1 in 2,841
This common or more
59.6%
Who bears it

Of the 106,323 people named Spencer, 81.9% reported their origin as White, 6.1% as Black and 4.7% as two or more races. 96.3% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Spencer peaked in 1998, when 4,780 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1998
Births that year
4,780
In 2025*
1,153 ▼76%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 129,638 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Spencer by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #188. The largest share of babies named Spencer, 35.5%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#654313
1890s#827309
1900s#873396
1910s#8991,373
1920s#9341,872
1930s#8931,792
1940s#7873,036
1950s#9193,165
1960s#8204,433
1970s#6226,956
1980s#35915,528
1990s#18839,491
2000s#26628,066
2010s#45215,750
2020s#5567,158
Before 19010.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–272.5%
Silent Generation 1928–453%
Baby boom 1946–644.9%
Generation X 1965–807.8%
Millennials 1981–9631.9%
Generation Z 1997–1235.5%
2013 and later13.8%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Spencer is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Spencer has been most common in Utah (5.4×), Idaho (2.6×), and Washington (2×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.42×).

122,563 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Spencer

#528 Marco · 106,978#529 Marlene · 106,957#531 Tanya · 105,773#532 Ronnie · 105,401

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Spencer, most common first.

#5,397 Spenser · 3,192#13,361 Spence · 906

Also a last name

As a last name, Spencer ranks #208 of 156,621, with 135,510 people. See Spencer as a last name

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