Frequency: (755)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. English: from an agent derivative of Middle English (e)spi(en) ‘to watch’, hence an occupational name for a lookout or watchman, or a nickname for a nosy person.
2. Scottish: variant spelling of Spear.
3. German: nickname for a small person, from Middle Low German spīr ‘trifle’, ‘small piece’.
4. German: habitational name from any of several places named Spier, notably the city in the Palatinate, now spelled Speyer (see Speyer, Spiering).
5. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Spiro.
GIVEN NAMES: German 4%. Erhardt (2), Gerd (2), Ewald, Ilse, Kurt, Monika, Otto.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
