Family name origins & meanings
- Slovenian (Špan) : from špan, a feudal status name for a serf chosen by an overlord to oversee other serfs and villeins working on the overlord’s estate. This was also a status name for a village headman. The word in both senses is derived from Slovenian župan (see Zupan).
- German : occupational name for a carpenter, a variant of Spahn.
- German : nickname for a quarrelsome person, a variant of Spann.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : nickname or ornamental name from Span ‘chip’.