Spence
Spence was last recorded in 2024, when 5 babies were given it; 1,114 Americans have been recorded with it between 1902 and 2024 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Spence by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Spence mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Spence is “Short form of the male given name Spencer.”
/ˈspɛns/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Spence?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #13,961, in 2024; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
47 babies in 1970, the peak
Spence peaked in 1970, when 47 boys were given it, #1,219 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5 | #13,961 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | 8 | #9,622 | 4.7 |
| 2022 | 9 | #8,881 | 5.2 |
| 2021 | 6 | #11,938 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 5 | #13,768 | 2.9 |
| 2019 | 7 | #10,646 | 3.9 |
| 2017 | 6 | #12,024 | 3.2 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,709 | 4.7 |
| 2015 | 7 | #10,468 | 3.7 |
| 2013 | 9 | #8,665 | 4.8 |
Every recorded year (99)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 7 | #10,597 | 3.7 |
| 2011 | 10 | #7,974 | 5.3 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,689 | 4.7 |
| 2009 | 9 | #8,895 | 4.5 |
| 2007 | 11 | #7,508 | 5.3 |
| 2006 | 13 | #6,401 | 6.3 |
| 2005 | 20 | #4,435 | 10.0 |
| 2004 | 11 | #6,907 | 5.5 |
| 2003 | 11 | #6,653 | 5.6 |
| 2002 | 19 | #4,298 | 9.8 |
| 2001 | 17 | #4,641 | 8.7 |
| 2000 | 14 | #5,258 | 7.1 |
| 1999 | 12 | #5,601 | 6.2 |
| 1998 | 11 | #5,777 | 5.8 |
| 1997 | 14 | #4,635 | 7.4 |
| 1996 | 8 | #7,027 | 4.2 |
| 1995 | 9 | #6,334 | 4.7 |
| 1994 | 12 | #5,066 | 6.2 |
| 1993 | 6 | #8,552 | 3.1 |
| 1992 | 16 | #3,889 | 8.0 |
| 1991 | 9 | #5,868 | 4.5 |
| 1990 | 21 | #3,041 | 10.2 |
| 1989 | 16 | #3,590 | 8.0 |
| 1988 | 19 | #2,934 | 9.9 |
| 1987 | 14 | #3,480 | 7.5 |
| 1986 | 17 | #2,989 | 9.2 |
| 1985 | 8 | #5,081 | 4.3 |
| 1984 | 10 | #4,161 | 5.5 |
| 1983 | 12 | #3,592 | 6.7 |
| 1982 | 10 | #4,196 | 5.5 |
| 1981 | 17 | #2,766 | 9.5 |
| 1980 | 14 | #3,227 | 7.8 |
| 1979 | 14 | #3,147 | 8.1 |
| 1978 | 11 | #3,578 | 6.7 |
| 1977 | 13 | #3,179 | 7.9 |
| 1976 | 10 | #3,683 | 6.4 |
| 1975 | 8 | #4,258 | 5.1 |
| 1974 | 13 | #2,921 | 8.3 |
| 1973 | 17 | #2,388 | 10.9 |
| 1972 | 24 | #1,866 | 14.8 |
| 1971 | 30 | #1,629 | 17.0 |
| 1970 | 47 | #1,219 | 25.3 |
| 1969 | 41 | #1,249 | 22.9 |
| 1968 | 20 | #1,823 | 11.5 |
| 1967 | 8 | #3,203 | 4.6 |
| 1966 | 5 | #4,459 | 2.8 |
| 1965 | 8 | #3,215 | 4.3 |
| 1964 | 8 | #3,249 | 4.0 |
| 1963 | 12 | #2,516 | 5.9 |
| 1962 | 12 | #2,485 | 5.8 |
| 1961 | 10 | #2,880 | 4.7 |
| 1960 | 10 | #2,846 | 4.7 |
| 1959 | 8 | #3,252 | 3.7 |
| 1958 | 15 | #2,161 | 7.1 |
| 1957 | 14 | #2,263 | 6.5 |
| 1956 | 11 | #2,616 | 5.2 |
| 1955 | 9 | #2,947 | 4.4 |
| 1954 | 10 | #2,716 | 4.9 |
| 1953 | 10 | #2,690 | 5.1 |
| 1952 | 12 | #2,359 | 6.2 |
| 1950 | 8 | #2,994 | 4.5 |
| 1949 | 9 | #2,776 | 5.1 |
| 1948 | 11 | #2,428 | 6.3 |
| 1947 | 12 | #2,344 | 6.6 |
| 1946 | 5 | #3,958 | 3.1 |
| 1945 | 7 | #2,964 | 5.2 |
| 1943 | 7 | #3,200 | 4.9 |
| 1942 | 8 | #2,915 | 5.8 |
| 1941 | 12 | #2,194 | 9.8 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,461 | 8.6 |
| 1937 | 11 | #2,317 | 10.3 |
| 1936 | 6 | #3,502 | 5.8 |
| 1935 | 6 | #3,600 | 5.8 |
| 1934 | 6 | #3,628 | 5.8 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,089 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 8 | #3,059 | 7.7 |
| 1931 | 5 | #4,257 | 4.8 |
| 1929 | 6 | #3,907 | 5.6 |
| 1928 | 6 | #4,092 | 5.4 |
| 1924 | 8 | #3,465 | 7.1 |
| 1922 | 7 | #3,819 | 6.4 |
| 1921 | 7 | #3,820 | 6.4 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,179 | 8.5 |
| 1918 | 9 | #3,073 | 8.9 |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,499 | 5.4 |
| 1916 | 13 | #2,243 | 14.6 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,434 | 13.0 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,695 | 7.6 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,294 | 40.8 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Spence a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Spence has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 99 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Spence: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Spence, and how old are they?
An estimated 843 Americans named Spence and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (76% of everyone recorded); the median is 43 years old and half are between 26 and 57. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 906 people named Spence (23 women and girls, 883 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 858 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% above that prediction.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Spence
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Spence and names like it
- Compare Spence and VinsonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sSpence peaked in 1970.
- Tennessee’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Spence since 1910.
- The top names of 1970The year the most babies were named Spence.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Spence alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with SMost given first.