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Spurlin (surname)

Spurlin is an English-origin surname, treated by modern surname dictionaries as a variant of Spurling/Sparling; today it is found almost entirely in the United States, where about 2,600 people bore it in the 2020 Census.

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Spurlin is a surname of English origin. The Dictionary of American Family Names (2nd ed., 2022), as quoted by Ancestry, describes it simply as "English: variant of Spurling"[1], and Spurling in turn as a variant of Sparling[2].

Meaning

The same dictionary gives two possible sources for Sparling and its variants: the Middle English personal name Sperling/Sparling/Spirling/Spurling (Old English Spyrling), and the Middle English word sperling/sparling/spirling/spurling (from Anglo-Norman French esperlinge and Middle Dutch spierlinc) for a small fish, perhaps the smelt, which may have been applied to someone who caught, sold or resembled such fish[3]. Other popular sources derive the name from German Sperling, "sparrow"; that is the meaning of the unrelated German surname, and linking it to English Spurlin is not supported by the dictionaries[4][5]. See the entry Etymology of the Spurlin surname.

Distribution

In the 2020 U.S. Census, 2,616 people were recorded with the surname Spurlin, ranking it 11,506th in the country, down from 3,195 people (rank 10,088) in 2010 and 2,949 (rank 10,078) in 2000[6][7][8]. Forebears estimates about 3,484 bearers worldwide, around 98% of them in North America, with the largest US shares in Texas, Alabama and North Carolina[4]. The closely related spelling Spurling is more widespread in England, Australia and Bermuda[9].

Heraldry and genealogy

Commercial "family crest" vendors sell arms for Spurlin, but heraldic authorities stress that arms belong to individuals, not surnames[10]. Burke's General Armory does list historical arms for English Sperling/Spurling families of Hertfordshire and Essex[11]. A FamilyTreeDNA project covers Spurlin, Spurling, Sparling, Sperling and Spirling lines[12], and at least two book-length family histories have been published[13][14].

Spurlock is a separate English surname with a different etymology, even though it looks alike and is also concentrated in the American South and Midwest[15].

Wikidata surname item

On Wikidata, the family name is item Q37163931, sourced to the 2010 U.S. Census surname index. The item records the phonetic codes Soundex S164, Cologne phonetics 81756 and Caverphone SPLN11.[16]

See also

  • Etymology of the Spurlin surname · The Surname strong
    Scholarly surname dictionaries derive Spurlin, through Spurling and Sparling, from either an Old English personal name (Spyrling) or a Middle English word for a small fish such as the smelt; the popular 'sparrow' explanation belongs to German Sperling.
  • Spurlin spelling variants and related surnames · The Surname strong
    Spurlin belongs to a group of related spellings (Spurling, Sparling, Sparlin, Sperlin, Spirling) that the Dictionary of American Family Names traces to the same English roots. Sperling and Spurlock look similar but have separate origins.
  • Spurlin in the U.S. Census (2000, 2010, 2020) · The Surname strong
    Official U.S. Census Bureau surname files rank Spurlin about 10,000th–11,500th among American surnames, with 2,949 bearers in 2000, 3,195 in 2010 and 2,616 in 2020, most of them non-Hispanic white.
  • Geographic distribution of the Spurlin surname · The Surname strong
    Almost all people named Spurlin live in the United States, especially Texas, Alabama and North Carolina today and Indiana in the 19th century. The fuller spelling Spurling is still found in England (especially East Anglia and London), Australia, Canada and Bermuda.
  • Spurlin coat of arms and heraldry · The Surname mixed
    There is no coat of arms for the surname Spurlin, since arms are granted to individuals. Burke's General Armory does record arms of several historical English Spurling, Sperling and Sparling families, which crest vendors reuse.
  • Sperling/Spurling DNA surname project · Genealogy mixed
    FamilyTreeDNA hosts a volunteer-run Y-DNA surname project, 'Sperling Spurling', for Spurlin, Spurling, Sparlin, Sparling, Sperlin, Sperling, Spirlin and Spirling lines. Its largest group links descendants of Jeremiah Spurling of Virginia with descendants of 'Big John' Spurlin of Lincoln County, North Carolina.
  • Spurlock vs. Spurlin · The Surname strong
    Spurlock is a separate surname from Spurlin despite the similar look and a shared concentration in the American South and Midwest. It is more than four times as common in the United States.
  • Sperling: a different surname · The Surname strong
    Sperling is a German and Jewish surname meaning 'sparrow'. It is often given as the origin of Spurlin, but English surname dictionaries derive Spurlin from a different source.
  • Fictional characters named Spurlin · Culture strong
    Characters surnamed Spurlin in novels, pulp science fiction, television and film, including an explorer in a 1942 Planet Stories tale, a politician in C. J. Cherryh's Regenesis (2009), the heroine of a 1993 romance, and minor characters on British and American screens.
  • Sparling (the fish) and the Spurlin name · The Surname strong
    'Sparling' (also sperling, spurling) is an old English and Scots word for the European smelt, Osmerus eperlanus. It is one of the two main proposed sources of the Spurling/Spurlin surname.
  • Spurlin on Wikidata · Culture strong
    The Spurlin items in Wikidata, the free knowledge base: the family-name item, places, cemeteries and notable people.
  • Spurlin research resources · Genealogy mixed
    A roundup of free online tools for researching Spurlin families: collaborative trees, the Spurlin Y-DNA project, surname forums, digitized county histories and newspapers, federal land patents, cemetery and historical-marker databases, and military and African American records.
  • Spurling (surname) · The Surname strong
    Spurling is the fuller spelling from which Spurlin derives. Unlike Spurlin, it is well established in England, Australia and especially Bermuda as well as the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Spurlin Surname Meaning & Spurlin Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd ed. (2022): 'English: variant of Spurling' Reference
  2. ↑ Spurling Surname Meaning & Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes DAFN 2nd ed.: 'English: variant of Sparling' Reference
  3. ↑ Sparling Surname Meaning & Sparling Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes DAFN 2nd ed. full etymology of Sparling Genealogy
  4. ↑ ↑ Spurlin Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History — Forebears Reference
  5. ↑ Sperling — Wikipedia Reference
  6. ↑ Frequently Occurring Last Names in the 2020 Census by Race and Hispanic Origin — U.S. Census Bureau — Raw data file; SPURLIN row: rank 11,506, count 2,616 Government
  7. ↑ Frequently Occurring Surnames from the 2010 Census (Names_2010Census.csv) — U.S. Census Bureau — Raw data file; SPURLIN row: rank 10,088, count 3,195 Government
  8. ↑ Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (names.zip, app_c.csv) — U.S. Census Bureau — Raw data file; SPURLIN row: rank 10,078, count 2,949 Government
  9. ↑ Spurling Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History — Forebears Reference
  10. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions — The Heraldry Society News
  11. ↑ The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (Sir Bernard Burke, 1884) — full text, Internet Archive — Entries Sparling (Petton, Salop); Sperling or Spurling (Weston, Herts, granted 1586); Sperling (Dynes Hall, Essex); Spurling (co. Essex) Book
  12. ↑ Sperling Spurling — Overview — FamilyTreeDNA group project Genealogy
  13. ↑ Spurling family history in Virginia & North Carolina ... by Norman Kent Spurling — Open Library Reference
  14. ↑ SPURLIN: A Spurlin Family in America — Higginson Book Company Commercial
  15. ↑ Spurlock Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History — Forebears Reference
  16. ↑ Spurlin (Q37163931) — Wikidata Reference

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Last reviewed 2026-09-24.