Frequency: (1141)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English (chiefly Lancashire): nickname or occupational name for someone who acted as a spokesman, from Middle English spekeman ‘advocate’, ‘spokesman’ (from Old English specan to speak + mann ‘man’).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.




