Ethnicity English | Place of origin England | |
Current region England and its former colonies Earlier spellings Wetherspong/Wetherspang Name origin and meaning Middle English
'wether' - sheep or ram + 'spong'/'spang' - narrow strip of land (northern English dialect) | ||
The Witherspoon surname originates in England. It is composed of the elements 'wether' and 'spong/spang' which are taken from Middle English. Originally, Witherspoon was a place name meaning 'a narrow strip of land where sheep dwell', however the village has been lost on maps.
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The surname is most likely to come from County Durham, North East England as in the 1881 census, County Durham had far more inhabitants named Witherspoon than any other county. In particular, you are 1422 times more likely to find a Witherspoon in the village of Birtley, County Durham than anywhere else in the UK.
With the British colonisation of many parts of the world, the name has spread to Australia, United States, New Zealand and Canada, among others, and now there are more Witherspoons in the U.S. than in their home country.
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Notable people with the name include: