Steward or dispenser of provisions
Derived from the Middle English word 'spense', meaning a larder or pantry. It originally served as an occupational surname for someone who was in charge of distributing food and supplies in a large household.
Less common today
Spenser isn't in the latest US Top 1000. It last peaked at #688 in 1990.
US births per 5-year period, 1990βpresent (SSA data).
Renowned Elizabethan poet who wrote The Faerie Queene
The wise-cracking private investigator created by Robert B. Parker Β· Spenser: For Hire
British diplomat and author who served in Borneo and Haiti