This is a medieval job descriptive surname, which is certainly not what it seems to be. It derives from Old English pre 8th Century 'spone' which means 'a roof tile or shingle' and describes a maker or merchant of these building products. It certainly has nothing to do with eating utensils, or sadly with 'spoonerism', a humourous description for word transposition 'invented' by the Rev W A Spooner (1844 - 1930). As a surname Spooner was originally entirely found in the north of England, and does not appear in the southern records before the 14th Century. Examples of early recordings include Robertus Sponer, Willium Sponer and Henricus Spuner, found in the 1379 Poll Tax Rolls for York, whilst John Sponer, also recorded as John Spooner appears in the burial register of St James Church, Clerkenwell, for 1585. In 1625 John Spooner and Florence Fryer are recorded as marrying in London by civil licence. The Spooner family of Wickhamford, Worcester were granted 'arms' by the Clarenceaux Herald in 1589. The blazon is of a blue field charged with a silver boars head, armed in gold and couped in red. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Lesponere, which was dated 1179, in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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