Spurlin spelling variants and related surnames
Spurlin belongs to a group of related spellings (Spurling, Sparling, Sparlin, Sperlin, Spirling) that the Dictionary of American Family Names traces to the same English roots. Sperling and Spurlock look similar but have separate origins.
Sourcing: strong 6 reference · 2 genealogy · 1 commercial · 2 government · 1 book
The Spurling/Sparling cluster
The Dictionary of American Family Names treats Spurlin as a variant of Spurling[1], Spurling as a variant of Sparling[2], and gives Sparling's Middle English forms as Sperling, Sparling, Spirling, Spurling[3]. The Spurlin spelling thus drops the final -g of Spurling.
Forebears lists Spurling (about 5,200 bearers worldwide), Sparlin (804) and Sperlin (138) as the phonetic neighbours closest to Spurlin[4], and Spierling and Spirling among Spurling's[5]. SurnameDB records Sparling, Sperling and Spurling as spellings of one name[6]. HouseofNames, a commercial site, lists Sparling, Sparlin, Sperling, Spurling and Spearling[7]. The FamilyTreeDNA surname project groups Spurlin/Spurling, Sparlin/Sparling, Sperlin/Sperling and Spirlin/Spirling together[8].
US counts by spelling (2020 Census)
| Surname | 2020 count | 2020 rank |
|---|---|---|
| Spurlock | 11,508 | 3,050 |
| Sperling | 3,882 | 8,164 |
| Spurling | 2,729 | 11,100 |
| Spurlin | 2,616 | 11,506 |
| Sparling | 2,318 | 12,715 |
| Sparlin | 502 | 45,838 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 last-names file[9]. Rarer spellings such as Spurlen and Sperlin were not in the file, which includes only names with 100 or more bearers[10].
Look-alikes with different origins
- Sperling is primarily a German (and Jewish) surname meaning "sparrow"[11]. DAFN notes that some American Sparlings are Americanized Sperlings[3], so the groups overlap in the US. English Sperling families also appear in Burke's General Armory[12]. See the entry Sperling: a different surname.
- Spurlock is a separate English surname and is more than four times as common as Spurlin in the US[9]. See the entry Spurlock vs. Spurlin.
See also
- Spurlin (surname) · The Surname strong
Spurlin is an English-origin surname, treated by modern surname dictionaries as a variant of Spurling/Sparling; today it is found almost entirely in the United States, where about 2,600 people bore it in the 2020 Census. - Spurling (surname) · The Surname strong
Spurling is the fuller spelling from which Spurlin derives. Unlike Spurlin, it is well established in England, Australia and especially Bermuda as well as the United States. - Sperling: a different surname · The Surname strong
Sperling is a German and Jewish surname meaning 'sparrow'. It is often given as the origin of Spurlin, but English surname dictionaries derive Spurlin from a different source. - Spurlock vs. Spurlin · The Surname strong
Spurlock is a separate surname from Spurlin despite the similar look and a shared concentration in the American South and Midwest. It is more than four times as common in the United States. - Businesses with names similar to Spurlin · Miscellany mixed
Many businesses that turn up in searches for "Spurlin" actually bear the similar surnames Spurlino, Spurling or Spurlock. This page lists the most common ones. - Etymology of the Spurlin surname · The Surname strong
Scholarly surname dictionaries derive Spurlin, through Spurling and Sparling, from either an Old English personal name (Spyrling) or a Middle English word for a small fish such as the smelt; the popular 'sparrow' explanation belongs to German Sperling. - Greg Spurling (Spurling variant) · People strong
Greg Spurling is a former American college basketball center from Knoxville, Tennessee. The Phoenix Suns drafted him in the fifth round in 1986, and he later signed with the Suns and the Chicago Bulls, but he was waived each time and never played in an NBA game. - Slim Spurling and Light-Life rings (Spurling variant) · Products & Brands mixed
Bill "Slim" Spurling (1938–2007) was an American metalworker and dowser who created copper "Light-Life" rings in 1991. They are the origin of today's "tensor ring" products, a large Spurling-name product niche on Etsy and Amazon. - Spurlin in the U.S. Census (2000, 2010, 2020) · The Surname strong
Official U.S. Census Bureau surname files rank Spurlin about 10,000th–11,500th among American surnames, with 2,949 bearers in 2000, 3,195 in 2010 and 2,616 in 2020, most of them non-Hispanic white. - Spurlin on Reddit and online forums · Culture weak
Where the Spurlin name comes up in online discussion: Reddit threads about Spurlin athletes, a band director and a dog breeder, long-running genealogy message boards, and a few other platforms that were checked. - Spurlin podcasts and podcast hosts · Culture strong
Podcasts hosted or co-hosted by people named Spurlin, covering workplace design, marketing, sermons and Christian encouragement, St. Louis sports, the outdoors, music, interviews and role-playing games. One similarly named show is hosted by a Spurling. - Spurling athletes in Britain and Australia (variant spelling) · People strong
Sportsmen and sports figures with the related surname Spurling outside the United States. They include the England rugby international Aubrey Spurling (1856–1945), the Footscray footballers Bill Spurling (1907–1972) and Bob Spurling, the Australian lightweight rower Stephen Spurling and his mother, the Tasmanian rowing administrator Marj Spurling, and the English rugby hooker Scott Spurling. - Spurling photographers of Tasmania (variant spelling) · People strong
Four members of the Spurling family, across three generations, worked as photographers in Tasmania from the mid-19th century until 1941. Stephen Spurling II (1847–1924) ran a leading Launceston studio. His son Stephen Spurling III (1876–1962) pioneered Tasmanian wilderness photography, and Tasmania's Mount Spurling bears the family name. - Spurling public officials (variant spelling) · People strong
Minor public officials and candidates with the related surname Spurling, including a 19th-century Maine postmaster, a 2004 Democratic National Convention alternate, a North Carolina town councilman and school-board member, and a Georgia county coroner. - Spurlings of Bermuda (variant spelling) · Genealogy strong
In Bermuda the name is spelled Spurling, and Forebears ranks it the island's 202nd most common surname. Bermudian Spurlings have included the banker and parliamentarian Sir Stanley Spurling (1879–1961), his son Sir Dudley Spurling, Speaker of the House of Assembly, and his nephew Arthur Rowe Spurling, a First World War flying ace.
References
- ↑ Spurlin Surname Meaning & Spurlin Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd ed. (2022): 'English: variant of Spurling' Reference
- ↑ Spurling Surname Meaning & Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes DAFN 2nd ed.: 'English: variant of Sparling' Reference
- ↑ ↑ Sparling Surname Meaning & Sparling Family History — Ancestry.com — Quotes DAFN 2nd ed. full etymology of Sparling Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History — Forebears Reference
- ↑ Spurling Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History — Forebears Reference
- ↑ Spurling Surname: Meaning, Origin & Family History — SurnameDB (Internet Surname Database) Reference
- ↑ Spurlin Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms — HouseofNames (commercial) — Commercial crest vendor; lower reliability Commercial
- ↑ Sperling Spurling — Overview — FamilyTreeDNA group project Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ Frequently Occurring Last Names in the 2020 Census by Race and Hispanic Origin — U.S. Census Bureau — Raw data file; SPURLIN row: rank 11,506, count 2,616 Government
- ↑ Frequently Occurring First Names and Last Names in the 2020 Census — U.S. Census Bureau — Release page; 156,621 last names occurring 100+ times Government
- ↑ Sperling — Wikipedia Reference
- ↑ The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (Sir Bernard Burke, 1884) — full text, Internet Archive — Entries Sparling (Petton, Salop); Sperling or Spurling (Weston, Herts, granted 1586); Sperling (Dynes Hall, Essex); Spurling (co. Essex) Book
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.