List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions


The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The competition began in 1925, and was initially organized by The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, until the Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company assumed sponsorship in 1941. Every speller in the competition has previously participated in a local spelling bee, usually organized by a local newspaper.
The first champion was Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, who beat eight other finalists to win the inaugural competition. He was honored with a parade in his hometown and returned to the Bee a number of times as a guest of honor. The first girl to win was Pauline Bell, also of Louisville, the following year. Girls won nine consecutive competitions from 1932 to 1940. Joint winners have been crowned on seven occasions in the Bee's history. The first such occurrence was in 1950, when Dean Colquitt and Diana Reynard were declared co-champions after the contestants had exhausted the list of available words. In both 1957 and 1962 joint champions were declared when both remaining contestants spelled the same word incorrectly. After three consecutive ties between 2014 and 2016, a written tiebreaker round was introduced, but it was discontinued for the 2019 Bee, which subsequently resulted in an unprecedented eight-way tie when the organizers ended the final session after the remaining contestants had completed five consecutive perfect rounds.
Although the competition is titled "National", it is not restricted to spellers from the United States. In 1975 Hugh Tosteson García of San Juan, Puerto Rico was the first winner from outside the mainland United States. In 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica became the first speller from outside the US to win the Bee, as well as the first black winner. In recent decades the competition has been dominated by Indian-American students. Although people of South Asian origin make up less than one percent of the U.S. population, the vast majority of the winners since 1999, including all fourteen champions between 2008-2018 and seven of the eight co-champions in 2019, have come from the Indian-American community. One such speller, Nihar Janga from Austin, Texas, became the youngest champion in the Bee's history when he won the title in 2016 at the age of 11.
The competition was not held from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. The 2020 competition was canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Champions

EditionYearCompetition-ending wordWinnerSponsorSponsor's location
1st1925The Courier-JournalLouisville, Kentucky
2nd1926The Courier-JournalLouisville, Kentucky
3rd1927Akron Beacon JournalAkron, Ohio
4th1928South Bend News-TimesSouth Bend, Indiana
5th1929
Omaha World-HeraldOmaha, Nebraska
6th1930The Des Moines Register and TribuneDes Moines, Iowa
7th1931White Hall Register-RepublicanWhite Hall, Illinois
8th1932The Des Moines Register and TribuneDes Moines, Iowa
9th1933Akron Beacon JournalAkron, Ohio
10th1934Portland Evening ExpressPortland, Maine
11th1935Akron Beacon JournalAkron, Ohio
12th1936The Des Moines Register and TribuneDes Moines, Iowa
13th1937The Courier-JournalLouisville, Kentucky
14th1938The Louisville TimesLouisville, Kentucky
15th1939Telegram & GazetteWorcester, Massachusetts
16th1940The Knoxville News-SentinelKnoxville, Tennessee
17th1941The Detroit NewsDetroit, Michigan
18th1942El Paso Herald-PostEl Paso, Texas
19th1946The Des Moines Register and TribuneDes Moines, Iowa
20th1947Atlanta JournalAtlanta, Georgia
21st1948Akron Beacon JournalAkron, Ohio
22nd1949Canton RepositoryCanton, Ohio
23rd1950Cleveland PressCleveland, Ohio
23rd1950Atlanta JournalAtlanta, Georgia
24th1951Memphis Press ScimitarMemphis, Tennessee
25th1952Winston-Salem JournalWinston-Salem, North Carolina
26th1953Arizona RepublicPhoenix, Arizona
27th1954Norristown Times HeraldNorristown, Pennsylvania
28th1955St. Louis Globe-DemocratSt. Louis, Missouri
29th1956Pittsburgh PressPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
30th1957Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
30th1957Canton RepositoryCanton, Ohio
31st1958Topeka Daily CapitalTopeka, Kansas
32nd1959Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
33rd1960The Knoxville News-SentinelKnoxville, Tennessee
34th1961Tulsa TribuneTulsa, Oklahoma
35th1962El Paso Herald-PostEl Paso, Texas
35th1962St. Louis Globe-DemocratSt. Louis, Missouri
36th1963The Knoxville News-SentinelKnoxville, Tennessee
37th1964Akron Beacon JournalAkron, Ohio
38th1965Tulsa TribuneTulsa, Oklahoma
39th1966Houston ChronicleHouston, Texas
40th1967The Omaha World-HeraldOmaha, Nebraska
41st1968The Topeka Daily CapitalTopeka, Kansas
42nd1969Dallas Morning NewsDallas, Texas
43rd1970Winston-Salem Journal & SentinelWinston-Salem, North Carolina
44th1971Philadelphia BulletinPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
45th1972Lubbock Avalanche-JournalLubbock, Texas
46th1973Fort Worth PressFort Worth, Texas
47th1974Birmingham Post-HeraldBirmingham, Alabama
48th1975San Juan StarSan Juan, Puerto Rico
49th1976Syracuse Herald-JournalSyracuse, New York
50th1977The Pittsburgh PressPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
51st1978The Topeka Capital-JournalTopeka, Kansas
52nd1979Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
53rd1980Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
54th1981El Paso Herald-PostEl Paso, Texas
55th1982Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
56th1983El Paso Herald-PostEl Paso, Texas
57th1984Loudoun Times-MirrorLeesburg, Virginia
58th1985Chicago TribuneChicago, Illinois
59th1986The Patriot NewsHarrisburg, Pennsylvania
60th1987The Pittsburgh PressPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
61st1988The Sacramento BeeSacramento, California
62nd1989Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
63rd1990The Seattle TimesSeattle, Washington
64th1991Wisconsin State JournalClintonville, Wisconsin
65th1992The Richmond News LeaderRichmond, Virginia
66th1993The Commercial AppealMemphis, Tennessee
67th1994The Knoxville News-SentinelKnoxville, Tennessee
68th1995The Commercial AppealMemphis, Tennessee
69th1996The Palm Beach PostWest Palm Beach, Florida
70th1997New York Daily NewsNew York City
71st1998Phillips & Phillips Stationery SuppliersKingston, Jamaica
72nd1999The Tampa TribuneTampa, Florida
73rd2000demarcheSt. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis, Missouri
74th2001Aitkin Independent AgeAitkin, Minnesota
75th2002Rocky Mountain NewsDenver, Colorado
76th2003Dallas Morning NewsDallas, Texas
77th2004South Bend TribuneSouth Bend, Indiana
78th2005appoggiaturaSan Diego Union-TribuneSan Diego, California
79th2006Asbury Park Press/Home News TribuneSpring Lake, New Jersey
80th2007Contra Costa TimesWalnut Creek, California
81st2008Journal & CourierWest Lafayette, Indiana
82nd2009The Olathe NewsOlathe, Kansas
83rd2010stromuhrThe Plain DealerCleveland, Ohio
84th2011Times LeaderWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
85th2012U-T San DiegoSan Diego, California
86th2013New York Daily NewsNew York City
87th2014stichomythiaCorning Rotary ClubCorning, New York
87th2014feuilletonTexas Christian UniversityFort Worth, Texas
88th2015scherenschnitteThe Olathe NewsOlathe, Kansas
88th2015nunatakSt. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis, Missouri
89th2016FeldenkraisCorning Rotary ClubCorning, New York
89th2016Houston Public MediaAustin, Texas
90th2017The Fresno BeeFresno, California
91st2018koinoniaKarthik NemmaniScoggins Middle SchoolMcKinney, Texas
92nd2019Bay Area Regional Spelling BeeSan Jose, California
92nd2019erysipelasAdventure TravelHuntsville, Alabama
92nd2019bougainvilleaHoward County LibraryClarksville, Maryland
92nd2019aiguilletteRosa International Middle SchoolCherry Hill, New Jersey
92nd2019Dallas Sports CommissionDallas, Texas
92nd2019Dallas Sports CommissionFlower Mound, Texas
92nd2019Discover Lehigh ValleyWhitehouse Station, New Jersey
92nd2019Dallas Sports CommissionIrving, Texas