Where the Spencer name comes from

Spencer is an English surname that grew out of the Old French word despensier, meaning a dispenser or steward. Middle English used spenser for someone who worked in a spense, or as a butler or steward. An early example appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists Robert d'Abbetot as Robert le Dispenser, 'the steward'. Early records such as the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1291 and 1296 wrote it as le Despenser or Despencer, and over time it lost both the article le and its unstressed first syllable. Families carrying it arose in many separate places, so sharing the surname does not mean sharing an ancestor.

A separate Irish line comes from the Gaelic Mac Spealáin, 'son of Spealáin', a name built on speal, the word for a scythe. Anglicised, it produced Spenser along with Spellane, Spollen, Spelman and Spellman. In the 19th century Spencer also became a given name, especially in the more anglicised areas of the United States.