Spring

Family name origins & meanings

• English : of uncertain origin. Early examples, as for example William Spring (Yorkshire 1280), all point to a personal name or nickname, perhaps going back to an Old English byname derived from the verb springan ‘to jump or leap’ (see Springer 1). Alternatively, it could be a topographic name from Middle English spring ‘young wood’, ‘spring’. Compare Springer. Reaney derives the surname from the word denoting the season, although the word is not attested in this sense until the 16th century, the usual Middle English word being lenten. Compare Lenz. The surname has also been established in Ireland (County Kerry) for several centuries.
• German : from Middle High German sprinc, Middle Low German sprink ‘spring’, ‘well’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a spring or well, or habitational name from Springe near Hannover.
• Jewish (Ashkenazic) : variant of Springer.
• John Spring emigrated from England and settled in Watertown, MA, in 1634.