Spurlin in the U.S. Census (2000, 2010, 2020)
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.
Sourcing: strong 7 government
The U.S. Census Bureau publishes tables of surnames that occur 100 or more times in each decennial census. The tables give each name's count, rank and racial and ethnic makeup[1][2]. Spurlin appears in all three modern releases.
Counts and ranks
| Census | Count | Rank | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,949 | 10,078 | 1.09 |
| 2010 | 3,195 | 10,088 | 1.08 |
| 2020 | 2,616 | 11,506 | 0.88 |
Sources: Census 2000 file[3], 2010 file[4], 2020 file[5].
The count rose by about 8% between 2000 and 2010 and fell by about 18% between 2010 and 2020. NameCensus.com reports the same 579-person drop using the Census data[6]. The Census files do not explain changes for individual names. Some of the change may come from differences in how the 2010 and 2020 tables were produced, so small changes should be read cautiously.
Race and Hispanic origin
In 2010, the Census Bureau reported bearers of Spurlin as 87.42% white, 7.32% Black, 0.38% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.81% American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.75% two or more races and 2.32% Hispanic[4]. The 2000 figures were similar (88.10% white, 8.21% Black, 1.63% Hispanic)[3]. The 2020 table uses mutually exclusive non-Hispanic "alone" categories. By that measure, 2,220 of 2,616 Spurlins (84.9%) were non-Hispanic white alone, 197 (7.5%) non-Hispanic Black alone, 92 (3.5%) non-Hispanic of two or more races, 12 (0.5%) Asian or Pacific Islander, 5 (0.2%) American Indian/Alaska Native and 90 (3.4%) Hispanic or Latino[5].
Comparison with variants (2020)
Spurling had 2,729 bearers (rank 11,100), Sparling 2,318 (rank 12,715), Sparlin 502 (rank 45,838) and Sperling 3,882 (rank 8,164). The unrelated Spurlock had 11,508 (rank 3,050)[5].
Release of the 2020 data
The Census Bureau released its 2020 names tables in April 2026. They cover 156,621 last names that each occurred at least 100 times[7][2].
See also
- Spurlin (surname) · The Surname strong
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. - 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 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.
References
- ↑ Census Names Data — U.S. Census Bureau Government
- ↑ ↑ Frequently Occurring First Names and Last Names in the 2020 Census — U.S. Census Bureau — Release page; 156,621 last names occurring 100+ times Government
- ↑ ↑ 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
- ↑ ↑ 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
- ↑ ↑ ↑ 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
- ↑ Spurlin: Last Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity — NameCensus.com — Third-party presentation of Census data Government
- ↑ Most Common First Names and Last Names in the 2020 Census — U.S. Census Bureau newsroom Government
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.