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The span Surname

span Name Meaning and History

  1. 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).
  2. German: occupational name for a carpenter, a variant of Spahn.
  3. German: nickname for a quarrelsome person, a variant of Spann.
  4. Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname or ornamental name from Span ‘chip’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The span name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the span family name as far back in history as possible.

span Family Facts

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Distribution of span Families in the US in 1920
Number of span families
 17-32
 6-16		 1-5
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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