Spencer — #386 US boys' name
123,013 babies named Spencer in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1998. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 97% of names given to boys today.
31% of everyone ever named Spencer was born in this single decade.
4,619 babies were named Spencer in 1998 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Spencer
The Social Security Administration has registered 123,013 babies named Spencer between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Spencer currently holds the #386 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1998, when 4,619 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Spencer performed strongest in the 1990s, accumulating 38,183 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Spencer shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 12,811 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Spencer in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Spencer in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 123,013 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Spencer at a glance
Top 1,000 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Spencer popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1998)
- 4,619
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #386 among boys.
123,013 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1998 with 4,619 births in a single year.
Spencer popularity over time — girls
5,461 total births recorded since 1922 (Spencer as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Spencer accounts for 4% of total recorded use across both genders.
Spencer by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1990s
- 38,183 births that decade — 31% of Spencer's all-time total
Spencer decade highlights
- Peak decade 38,183 births
- Runner-up 27,452 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1990s was Spencer's strongest decade
38,183 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 31% of all-time use.
Spencer by state
Where Spencer concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 12,811 | 10.4% |
| #2 | Texas | | 6,549 | 5.3% |
| #3 | New York | | 6,209 | 5.0% |
| #4 | Utah | | 5,433 | 4.4% |
| #5 | Ohio | | 5,077 | 4.1% |
| #6 | Florida | | 4,734 | 3.8% |
| #7 | Michigan | | 4,688 | 3.8% |
| #8 | Illinois | | 4,148 | 3.4% |
12,811 of 123,013 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- California 10.4% of nationwide
- Texas 5.3% of nationwide
- New York 5.0% of nationwide
- Utah 4.4% of nationwide
- Ohio 4.1% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
California accounts for 10.4% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Spencer appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.