Spalding
A surname that usually began as a place name from Spalding in Lincolnshire, England.
The #4,125 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,896 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Spalding is generally understood as a locational surname, meaning “of Spalding,” the Lincolnshire town. The place name is usually taken from an Old English form with a personal name plus the place-forming suffix -ing, though 19th-century writers differed on the exact first element. The final surname came to identify people who had moved from that place or were otherwise associated with it.
History
Medieval records show forms such as de Spalding, indicating an origin in the town name rather than a descriptive nickname. The surname later spread beyond Lincolnshire and is found in England and, through migration, in North America and elsewhere. In later usage, the spelling Spaulding became a common variant, especially outside Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The town of Spalding has given rise not only to the surname Spalding but also to the common American variant Spaulding.
From the historical record
“the A.V. (A.D. 161 1) having 'into Spaine. SPALDING (Eng.) Bel. to Spalding (tines), 13th cent. Spalding(e, the A.-Sax. Spdlde- lyng, Spaldeling, Spauldeling [On the analogy of Spaldington, Yorks, the last element iS; the 0-E. fil. sufi. -ing rather than O.North. and East. E. ing (O.N. ewg), a meadow, and the first…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)