SPEARMAN
Spearman is an English surname that originated as an occupational name. In Middle English it appears as spereman – a person armed with a spear, or a craftsperson who made or sold spears. The term spere (from Old English) means “spear” and mann means “man”, so the literal sense of the name is “spear‑man”.
The earliest documentary references to the name date back to the thirteenth century. A Henry Spere of Lancashire is recorded in 1246, and a Robertus Spyer appears in the 1379 Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire. An Annes Speere was christened at St. Giles Cripplegate in London on 1 March 1591. The very first surviving entry for a family bearing the name is that of Walter Speare in the pipe rolls of Somerset from 1185, during the reign of King Henry the Eleventh.
Through the centuries the spelling of the name has diversified. Variants such as Spear, Speare, Speer, Speir, Spier and their pluralised forms (Spears, Speares) are all recognised as cognates. In some cases the alteration reflects a shift from a description of a weapon to a description of a person of tall, thin build resembling a spear. Other spellings – for example Sperman, Speremann, Spearmann – are linked to the French verb espier meaning “to watch”, suggesting a watchman who may have carried a spear.
During the early modern period the name spreads beyond England. Passengers to the New England colonies include an Elizabeth Speere who left London for America in 1635 aboard the ship Mathew. In contemporary times the surname is found most frequently in the United Kingdom, especially in East Anglia, Kent, and the Scottish Borders, and in the United States, particularly in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas where places such as Spearman, Texas, are named after local bearers of the name.
The heraldic arms of the Spearman lineage are described as a silver field bearing a thistle with three heads, stalked and leaved in green, and crowned with a red flower. The crest is a dolphin in an upright position. An early 17th‑century grant also inscribed the Latin motto fortis et fidelis, meaning “bold and faithful”, a fitting representation of the martial heritage associated with the name.
Typical given names associated with the Spearman surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Philip
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Carol
- Claire
- Dawn
- Helen
- Jane
- Joanne
- Julia
- Julie
- Lisa
- Lynn
- Margaret
- Mary
- Moira
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Spearman in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,009 people named Spearman in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,331st most common surname in Britain. Around 15 in a million people in Britain are named Spearman.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Spearman
- Charles Spearman - Psychologist (1863 to 1945)
- Alexander Spearman - Politician (1901 to 1982)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.