Spradlin
A surname of uncertain origin, likely an Americanized form of a northern English or Scots name built from an older place-name or personal name.
The #4,806 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,972 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Spradlin does not have a firmly established single derivation in the available historical sources. It is probably an altered form of an older English or Scots name, possibly shaped by regional pronunciation and spelling changes after migration to North America. The ending -lin may reflect a diminutive or a later phonetic development rather than the original form of the name.
History
The name is found in the United States by the mid-19th century, including Virginia. Its spelling suggests the kind of regional reshaping that often happened when older British surnames were recorded phonetically by clerks and census takers. Because the provided excerpts only mention the name incidentally, they do not settle the surname’s original meaning.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name is uncommon enough that 19th-century writers noticed it as an unusual-looking surname in printed directories and newspaper lists.
From the historical record
“Panter was present at the Burns Festival in Boston, 1859. Gaspey s " History of England " was pub- lished in London, 1856. Mr. Spradlin, of Virginia, was murdered in 1857. Miss Wide sailed from Bal- timore, Aug. 11, 1858. In the New- York Directory I find Mr. Fatt, three specimens of Fattman, Mr. Grossman, Mr. Lumpp,”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)