Explore the Family Name Spaven

The meaning of Spaven

English (northeastern) and Scottish: nickname for a lame person (especially one with a lump on the leg?), a transferred use of Middle English and Older Scottish spavein, spaven ‘spavin’ (Old French espa(r)vain), a disease of horses consisting of a bony tumour formed on the hock. Compare Middle English spaveined ‘crippled’ (person), past participle of spaveinen ‘to lame oneself’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Spaven in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Spaven has seen a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname shifted from 124,109th place in 2000 to 154,907th in 2010, a drop of 24.82%. In terms of actual count, there were 128 individuals with this last name in 2000, which fell to 105 by 2010, marking a decrease of 17.97%. The proportion of people named Spaven per 100,000 also declined by 20% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#124,109	#154,907	-24.82%
Count	128	105	-17.97%
Proportion per 100k	0.05	0.04	-20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Spaven

The Decennial U.S. Census data also revealed changes in the ethnic identity of individuals carrying the surname Spaven. Between 2000 and 2010, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 11.72% to 16.19%, a rise of 38.14%. However, there was a complete disappearance of individuals identifying as two or more races. The percentage of individuals identifying as White saw a slight decrease from 81.25% in 2000 to 79.05% in 2010. There were no recorded instances of persons with the Spaven surname identifying as Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	81.25%	79.05%	-2.71%
Asian/Pacific Islander	11.72%	16.19%	38.14%
Two or More Races	5.47%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%