Witherspoon
An English and Scottish surname usually explained as a variant of Wotherspoon, itself most often treated as a place-based name of uncertain local origin.
The #2,736 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,441 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname dictionaries treat Witherspoon as a spelling variant of Wotherspoon or Wedderspoon rather than as a transparent modern compound. The name has been linked to a place-name element involving an old word for a grazing or willow-related locality, but the exact origin is not settled and some 19th-century explanations are speculative. In short, the surname probably began as a habitational or local descriptive name, but its deeper word history is uncertain.
History
The form is well attested in Britain, especially in Scottish and northern English records, and later carried abroad through migration. Modern bearers often use the spelling Witherspoon, but older sources also record Wotherspoon, Wedderspoon, and related forms. The surname is best known internationally from the American statesman and minister John Witherspoon (1723–1794).
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname gained lasting fame in America through John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.
From the historical record
“WITHERS, Wither 's (Son) : v. Wither. WITHERSPOON for Wetherspoon, q.v. WITHERSTON(E (Eng.) Bel. to Witherstone (Dorset) = Wi(h)there's Stone (Monu- ment) [v. Wither ; and -1- O.E. stdn] WiTHEYl (Eng.) Dweller at i the Willow- WITHY / Tree [O.E. wi'Sig] 2 the Willow Island or Low Riparian Land [O.E. wtSig, a willow…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)