Wotherspoon Surname

115,136th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 4,012 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Scotland
Highest density in:
Scotland

Wotherspoon Surname Definition:

I can make nothing out of this surname, and leave it to the consideration of more enlightened students. I can furnish them with materials, but that is all. My Yorkshire references clearly represent some of its ancestors.

Adam Wytherpyn, Norfolk, 1273.

Read More About This Surname

Wotherspoon Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland1,1551:4,635802
Australia8591:31,4274,178
England5791:96,23210,237
United States5461:663,84453,047
Canada4781:77,0838,661
New Zealand2431:18,6353,271
South Africa511:1,062,30863,943
Dominican Republic231:453,60614,824
Wales171:182,03112,022
Chile161:1,101,03021,213
Malaysia51:5,898,845196,803
Northern Ireland41:461,25916,615
United Arab Emirates41:2,290,56860,372
Brazil31:71,358,111770,017
France31:22,140,907385,998
Ireland21:2,354,47019,715
Germany21:40,252,730481,636
China21:683,660,78330,601
Sweden21:4,923,378241,212
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
Thailand21:35,319,172966,191
Switzerland11:8,212,915156,297
Bahamas11:391,7512,737
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
Uruguay11:3,431,75838,295
Czechia11:10,633,469206,023
Trinidad and Tobago11:1,363,97522,013
Spain11:46,752,036156,870
Singapore11:5,507,70347,049
Ghana11:27,020,69223,742
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
India11:767,065,3821,851,717
Show All Nations
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland281:158,2108,327
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland8311:4,504711
England1301:187,50315,253
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States341:1,477,02079,266

Wotherspoon Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

I can make nothing out of this surname, and leave it to the consideration of more enlightened students. I can furnish them with materials, but that is all. My Yorkshire references clearly represent some of its ancestors.

Adam Wytherpyn, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Adam Wyerpin, Norfolk, ibid.

Johannes Withspone, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Willelmus Wythspone, 1379: ibid.

John Wetherpyn, vicar of Thrickby, Norfolk, 1419: History of Norfolk.

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

The meaning of this name is uncertain. 'Sheep pasture' has been reasonably suggested from Old English and ME. weðer, 'sheep, lamb, and spong, obsolete English for a tongue-shaped piece of land enclosed by or lying next to higher ground. Late in the thirteenth century Roger Wythirspon, clerk, attested a grant by James the High Steward of lands in Renfrew (OPS., I, p. 77). "Widderspune the foulare that tald talis and brocht foulis to the king" received a payment in 1496 (ALHT., I, p. 307; Trials, I, p. 116). John Wyddirspwn was tenant of Dalbeth in 1518 (Rental), and a tenant of Cupar-Angus Abbey, c. 1500, was named Wychthirspone. Maister Nichol Vithirspouyne who witnessed letters of reversion, 1519 (Pollok, I, p. 241) may be Nicholas Wethirspwne, witness in Glasgow, 1548 (Protocols, I). Sir Thomas Vaddirspoun, a cleric, was witness at Falkland, 1548 (Gaw, 8). Thomas Witherspuyn witnessed a tack by the abbot of Cupar, 1521 (SCM. V, p. 294), and Archibald Wetherspune held the vicarage of Karridden, 1546 (LSC., p. 261). Robert Wyddirspune was witness in West Lothian, 1547 (Binns, 40). The Rev. John Witherspoon (1722-1794), born in Yester, became president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1768, and took an active part in the American Revolution on the side of the colonists. General William Wallace Wotherspoon (1850-1921), head of the state canal system of New York, was of Scottish descent. Uedtherspon 1560, Uthirspwne 1552, Vatherspoone 1637, Wedderspoone 1620, Wetherspone 1614, Wetherspwne 1549, Wethirspone 1590, Wethirspune 1569, Weyhthirspon 1546, Widerspune 1483, Witherspone 1583, Witherspune 1588, Withirspovune c. 1530, Withirspwne 1575, Wodderspoon 1761, Wotherspone 1601, Wyddirspwnn 1485, Wyderspone 1477.

— The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:

Wotherspoon Demographics

Average Male Wotherspoon Height

177.37 cm

Average male height (US):
175.3 cm
Sample size: 19 (2014)

Sample is predominantly from Anglosphere countries

View the tallest/shortest surnames in the world

Wotherspoon Last Name Facts

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

Wotherspoon occurs most in Scotland. It can be rendered in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of Wotherspoon click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Wotherspoon? popularity and diffusion

This last name is the 115,136th most frequently used surname on a worldwide basis, held by approximately 1 in 1,816,437 people. The last name Wotherspoon is primarily found in Europe, where 44 percent of Wotherspoon live; 44 percent live in Northern Europe and 44 percent live in British Isles.

The surname is most widespread in Scotland, where it is held by 1,155 people, or 1 in 4,635. In Scotland Wotherspoon is mostly found in: North Lanarkshire, where 17 percent are found, Fife, where 14 percent are found and Glasgow City, where 10 percent are found. Without taking into account Scotland this last name is found in 34 countries. It is also found in Australia, where 21 percent are found and England, where 14 percent are found.

Wotherspoon Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Wotherspoon has changed through the years. In Scotland the number of people carrying the Wotherspoon last name grew 139 percent between 1881 and 2014; in England it grew 445 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it grew 1,606 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in Ireland it contracted 93 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Wotherspoon Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those carrying the Wotherspoon surname is primarily Presbyterian (93%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Wotherspoon surname are 0.73% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than the national average, with 52.5% being registered with the political party.

The amount Wotherspoon earn in different countries varies markedly. In South Africa they earn 26.56% less than the national average, earning R 174,516 per year; in United States they earn 12.16% more than the national average, earning $48,394 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.33% more than the national average, earning $52,332 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Woetherspoon961/
Wetherspoon91309/
Watherspoon916/
Wutherspoon912/
Whetherspoon873/
Waetherspoon871/
Wettherspoon870/
Wetherspon860/
Wheterspoon821/
Wutherspone820/
Wethirspoon820/
Waethersppon781/
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Wotherspoon Reference & Research

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

Witherspoon DNA proj 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 Wotherspoon
  • 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