Sperling Surname

20,784th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 26,261 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Germany
Highest density in:
Germany

Sperling Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Spirling,' one of the endless suffixes in -ing; compare Browning, Harding, &c. The 's' in Sperlings and Spillings is the genitive, as in Williams, Jones, Simmonds, &c. The only other possible origin is a nickname; German Sperling, a sparrow.

Read More About This Surname

Sperling Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Germany15,1261:5,322640
United States6,5431:55,3966,608
Canada8831:41,7285,189
Brazil7071:302,79311,676
Australia5041:53,5636,606
Israel4011:21,3413,173
Poland3691:103,00515,654
Netherlands3211:52,6089,020
Denmark2631:21,4632,168
England2161:257,95420,673
Argentina1671:255,94920,674
France1221:544,44974,270
Sweden1021:96,5377,015
Hungary1001:98,1639,529
Austria1001:85,15412,686
South Africa661:820,87455,153
Switzerland491:167,61115,447
New Zealand361:125,78715,451
Norway261:197,78022,769
Thailand151:4,709,223352,754
Belgium141:821,18966,436
Panama121:326,0227,351
Chile111:1,601,49826,155
Russia91:16,013,673414,297
Czechia91:1,181,49785,740
Paraguay81:904,5939,127
Estonia81:165,22626,217
Kazakhstan61:2,947,083107,736
Italy51:12,231,338126,430
Venezuela51:6,040,81547,898
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Philippines41:25,309,556279,062
Nigeria41:44,285,690437,567
Finland31:1,832,23457,803
Scotland31:1,784,60641,943
Spain31:15,584,012120,866
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
China21:683,660,78330,601
Indonesia21:66,124,597756,638
United Arab Emirates21:4,581,13693,443
Costa Rica21:2,390,03410,205
Japan21:63,922,14662,827
Turkey21:38,910,711171,901
Croatia21:2,114,30285,143
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Slovakia11:5,336,450140,422
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
Algeria11:38,631,551130,422
Aruba11:103,4772,586
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Jamaica11:2,869,94713,896
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Lithuania11:3,034,58847,401
Northern Ireland11:1,845,03620,648
Madagascar11:23,649,8379,420
Malaysia11:29,494,225409,885
Moldova11:3,561,36878,271
Peru11:31,784,12364,452
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland21:2,214,93333,683
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England681:358,46122,559
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States5001:100,43710,180

The alternate forms: Šperling (66) are calculated separately.

Sperling (51) may also be a first name.

Sperling Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Spirling,' one of the endless suffixes in -ing; compare Browning, Harding, &c. The 's' in Sperlings and Spillings is the genitive, as in Williams, Jones, Simmonds, &c. The only other possible origin is a nickname; German Sperling, a sparrow.

Geoffrey Spirling, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Henry Sperling, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

1631. Baptised — Dennys, d. Abraham Spillinge: St. James, Clerkenwell.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

V. Sparling.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(Ger.) Sparrow [Ger. Sperling, from Middle High German spar, O.H.Ger. sparo, sparrow + the (double) diminutive suff. -ling]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(German) One with some characteristic of a sparrow; dweller at the sign of the sparrow.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

(from a personal characteristic) German for “sparrow,” a name given to a vivacious, active person.

— Rabbi Benzion Kaganoff

Descended from Henry Sperling, a German Count of ancient family, who settled at Chigwell, co. Essex, in the last century. Germ, sperling, a sparrow.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Sperling Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Sperling Come From? nationality or country of origin

Sperling (Russian: Сперлинг) is most common in Germany. It may also be rendered in the variant forms: Šperling. Click here to see other potential spellings of Sperling.

How Common Is The Last Name Sperling? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 20,784th most widespread surname on a worldwide basis. It is borne by around 1 in 277,505 people. It occurs predominantly in Europe, where 64 percent of Sperling reside; 60 percent reside in Western Europe and 59 percent reside in Germanic Europe. Sperling is also the 1,396,783rd most frequently held forename worldwide It is held by 51 people.

The last name is most commonly held in Germany, where it is borne by 15,126 people, or 1 in 5,322. In Germany it is primarily concentrated in: North Rhine-Westphalia, where 19 percent live, Lower Saxony, where 13 percent live and Saxony, where 10 percent live. Outside of Germany it is found in 64 countries. It is also common in The United States, where 25 percent live and Canada, where 3 percent live.

Sperling Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Sperling has changed over time. In The United States the number of people who held the Sperling surname expanded 1,309 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it expanded 318 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Sperling Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the Sperling surname is principally Catholic (50%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Sperling surname are 1.27% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than the national average, with 51.96% being registered with the party.

The amount Sperling earn in different countries varies notably. In Norway they earn 17.51% more than the national average, earning 406,665 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 16.83% more than the national average, earning R 277,644 per year; in United States they earn 16.08% more than the national average, earning $50,089 USD per year and in Canada they earn 0.82% less than the national average, earning $49,276 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Sperling Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Sperling in the Russian language
Сперлингsperling-

Search for Another Surname

Sperling Reference & Research

Spearin Surname FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Sperling Spurling FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Spearin Surname FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

Sperling Spurling FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Sperling
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis