Spear is a surname deriving from Middle and Old English ("spear"), variously intending a spearman, a spearmaker, or a person considered tall and thin in a manner reminiscent of a spear..
Notable people with the surname include:
Albert Spear (1852–1929), justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and President of the Maine Senate Allan Spear (1937–2008), American politician and educator from Minnesota Arthur Spear (1883–1946), English footballer Arthur Prince Spear (1879–1959), American painter Bernard Spear (1919–2003), English actor Bob Spear (1920–2014), founding director of the Birds of Vermont Museum, naturalist, birdwatcher and master woodcarver Burning Spear (born 1945), Jamaican roots rock reggae artist Catherine Swan Brown Spear (1813–1903), American reformer, educator, and abolitionist Charles Spear (1803–1863), American Universalist minister Chloe Spear (c. 1749–1815), African freedwoman and diarist Clay V. Spear (1913–1974), associate justice of the Idaho Supreme Court Duston Spear, American artist Ellis Spear (1834–1917), officer in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment who rose to the rank of general during the American Civil War Eric Spear (1908–1966), English composer of film music Francis Spear (1902–1979), English stained glass artist and lithographer Frederick Gordon Spear (1895–1980), British physician and researcher Harry Spear (1921–2006), American child actor Jeff Spear (born 1988), American sabre fencer John Murray Spear (1804–1887), American Spiritualist preacher John Spear (1848–1921), British Liberal Unionist politician Joseph Spear (d. 1837), British naval officer Karl Spear (1910–1981), American college football coach Laurinda Hope Spear (born 1950), American architect and landscape architect Lawrence York Spear (1870–1950), American naval officer and businessman Margaret Jane Spear, American politician Mary Spear (1913–2006), English cricketer Matt Spear (born 1970), American soccer coach Moncrieff J. Spear (1921–2016), American diplomat Mónica Spear (1984–2014), Miss Venezuela 2004 Nikola Špear (1944–2017), Yugoslavian tennis player Patricia G. Spear (born 1942), American virologist Percival Spear (1901–1982) British historian of colonial and modern South Asia Richard E. Spear (born 1940), American art historian and professor Robert Spear, various people Roberta Spear (1948–2003), American poet Roger Ruskin Spear (born 1943), British musician and artist, founding member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band Ruskin Spear (1911–1990), British artist Samuel P. Spear (1815–1875), American soldier in the Seminole, Mexican–American War, and American Civil Wars Steven J. Spear (born 1965), American researcher and author Terry Spear, award-winning American author Timothy L. Spear, Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly Tom Spear (1919–1968), Australian rules footballer Tony Spear, American space exploration project manager Walter Eric Spear (1921–2008), German physicist William T. Spear (1834–1913), U.S. Republican politician Winston Spear (born 1965), Canadian stand-up comedian and actor
See also Variant English forms: Spears, Speare, Speares, Speer, Speir, Spier Related English forms: Shakespeare (surname), Shakeshaft Shapiro, main article on Jewish surnames including Spear as variant
References