Head to head · Boys' names
Spencer vs Titus
#360 vs #358 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Titus is a whisker ahead (#358 vs #360 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Spencer and Titus each lead 2 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Spencer #306, Titus #852 — Spencer higher
- 1890s: Spencer #328, Titus #958 — Spencer higher
- 1900s: Spencer #330, Titus #1056 — Spencer higher
- 1910s: Spencer #400, Titus #1208 — Spencer higher
- 1920s: Spencer #443, Titus #1379 — Spencer higher
- 1930s: Spencer #429, Titus #1401 — Spencer higher
- 1940s: Spencer #359, Titus #1403 — Spencer higher
- 1950s: Spencer #413, Titus #1242 — Spencer higher
- 1960s: Spencer #376, Titus #929 — Spencer higher
- 1970s: Spencer #284, Titus #812 — Spencer higher
- 1980s: Spencer #199, Titus #750 — Spencer higher
- 1990s: Spencer #100, Titus #864 — Spencer higher
- 2000s: Spencer #154, Titus #544 — Spencer higher
- 2010s: Spencer #262, Titus #320 — Spencer higher
- 2020s: Spencer #346, Titus #362 — Spencer higher
Spencer stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Spencer | Titus |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #306 | #852 |
| 1890s | #328 | #958 |
| 1900s | #330 | #1056 |
| 1910s | #400 | #1208 |
| 1920s | #443 | #1379 |
| 1930s | #429 | #1401 |
| 1940s | #359 | #1403 |
| 1950s | #413 | #1242 |
| 1960s | #376 | #929 |
| 1970s | #284 | #812 |
| 1980s | #199 | #750 |
| 1990s | #100 | #864 |
| 2000s | #154 | #544 |
| 2010s | #262 | #320 |
| 2020s | #346 | #362 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Spencer
steward; the one who dispenses provisions
From Middle English spencer, a shortening of Anglo-French espencier — the officer in charge of a household's pantry and stores. The same Latin root, dispensare, gives English dispense and dispensary.
dispensare (Latin, to weigh out, distribute) → despensier / espencier (Old French, Anglo-Norman) → le Despenser (Anglo-Norman surname) → Spencer (English surname) → Spencer (given name)
How it traveled
The word came into English with the Normans: a great house needed someone to manage its larder, and that man was the spencer. As with baker, smith and cooper, the office hardened into a family name, carried in its fuller Anglo-Norman form as le Despenser.
Titus
Not established
Nobody has established what Titus meant. What is documented is its role: it was one of about eighteen praenomina in regular use in Rome, old enough by the classical period that Roman writers themselves no longer explained it. A connection to Latin titulus, 'inscription, title of honor', has been proposed, as has a Sabine origin, but neither is settled.
Titus (Roman praenomen) → Τίτος / Titos (Greek New Testament) → Titus (Latin Vulgate) → Titus (English)
How it traveled
Titus began as a Roman praenomen — a personal first name, in a culture that used very few of them — and appears in Latin records for as long as Latin records exist. It was carried by the emperor Titus, who ruled briefly at the end of the first century and completed the Colosseum begun by his father.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Spencer
SPEN-sur
Stress on the first syllable. Pronounced the same in British and American English; no regional variants to negotiate.
- Spence — The standard short form, and also a surname and given name in its own right.
- Spenny — Informal, family-and-friends level; rarely used outside close circles.
- Spence-man / Spency — Casual playground and teammate variations rather than settled nicknames.
Titus
TY-tus
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with 'righteous'. Classical Latin would have said TEE-toos, and the Italian and Spanish Tito keeps that vowel — worth knowing if the name will be heard in more than one language.
- Ty — The most common English short form, and a standalone given name in its own right.
- Tito — The Italian and Spanish form of the full name, used as an affectionate short form in Spanish-speaking families and independently as a given name.
- T — Informal, spoken rather than written; Romans themselves abbreviated the name to T. in inscriptions.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Spencer if you want…
- a name holding steadySpencer is holding its place on the charts
Choose Titus if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Titus from Spencer.
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Spencer
Strengths
- Instantly spellable and instantly readable — one accepted spelling that English speakers already know from the surname.
- On the American record continuously since records began, without the steep rise and fall that dates a name to one decade.
- Has a real, long-established short form in Spence, so there is a casual option without inventing one.
To consider
- Most Spencers are boys, and a girl named Spencer will meet paperwork, teachers and coaches who assume otherwise until corrected. Families who choose it for a daughter usually decide in advance how much they mind that.
- Spenser, with an s, is a genuine historical spelling — the Elizabethan poet used it — so occasional misspellings are likely, though the c-version is the default people reach for.
- As a surname-first name it shares a lane with Parker, Sawyer and Carter, so it may sound of a piece with classmates' names even though the name itself is much older than that trend.
Titus
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that a child can write it early.
- A documented record stretching from Roman inscriptions through the New Testament to the present, with no gap.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, Polish and Greek in forms close enough to the English one.
To consider
- Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is his most violent play. Most people won't make the connection, but it is the other famous Titus, and anyone who studied it will remember.
- The New Testament link is real and specific — a whole epistle bears the name. If a distinctly Christian reading isn't what you're after, it will still be the first association for some listeners.
- The -us ending is uncommon among American boys' names right now, so Titus stands somewhat apart from its classmates. That cuts both ways: little confusion, but he will spend a lifetime being the only one in the room.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Spencer and Titus in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Spencer and Titus?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- One-decade wonders
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Preppy names with a monogrammed feel
- Surname names used up front
- all guides
Where Spencer and Titus each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Spencer or Titus — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Spencer or Titus?
- Titus, in 2025: Titus ranked #358 with 910 babies; Spencer ranked #360 with 908 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Spencer or Titus?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Spencer moved down 43 places; Titus moved down 18 places.
- Which is the older name, Spencer or Titus?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Spencer and Titus?
- About 112,000 people named Spencer are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,500 people named Titus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Spencers or Tituss in the classroom?
- Spencer will almost certainly be the only one in school. Titus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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