List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions

The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the 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 (now the E. W. Scripps 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, where and when he was presented with bouquets of gladioli in commemoration of the winning word "gladiolus", and returned to the Bee a number of times as a guest of honor. 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 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. 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 South Asian 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 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee was the first time that an African-American (Zaila Avant-garde) became the champion and only the second time that the champion was a black person.

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.{{cite news | access-date = 2020-05-16

On May 29, 2025, returning entrant Faizan Zaki of Allen, Texas, who was first runner-up in 2024, won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee title and trophy over 242 other contestants, including runner-up Sarvadnya Kadam of Visalia, California. This year marked the 100th year anniversary of the spelling competition which began on June 17, 1925. Forty-two former National Spelling Bee winners returned to attend the centennial celebration, the earliest two from 1960 (Henry Feldman) and 1961 (John Capehart) to then-current reigning champion Bruhat Soma (2024). Next year the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals will be held in Washington, D.C. at the DAR Constitution Hall.

Champions

Edition	Year	Competition-ending word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	32nd	33rd	34th	35th	36th	37th	38th	39th	40th	41st	42nd	43rd	44th	45th	46th	47th	48th	49th	50th	51st	52nd	53rd	54th	55th	56th	57th	58th	59th	60th	61st	62nd	63rd	64th	65th	66th	67th	68th	69th	70th	71st	72nd	73rd	74th	75th	76th	77th	78th	79th	80th	81st	82nd	83rd	84th	85th	86th	87th	88th	89th	90th	91st	92nd	93rd	94th	95th	96th	97th
1925	gladiolus		The Courier-Journal	Louisville, Kentucky
1926	cerise		The Courier-Journal	Louisville, Kentucky
1927	abrogate		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, Ohio
1928	knack		South Bend News-Times	South Bend, Indiana
1929	luxuriance
	Omaha World-Herald	Omaha, Nebraska
1930	albumen		The Des Moines Register and Tribune	Des Moines, Iowa
1931	foulard		White Hall Register-Republican	White Hall, Illinois
1932	invulnerable		The Des Moines Register and Tribune	Des Moines, Iowa
1933	torsion		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, Ohio
1934	brethren		Portland Evening Express	Portland, Maine
1935	intelligible		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, Ohio
1936	eczema		The Des Moines Register and Tribune	Des Moines, Iowa
1937	promiscuous		The Courier-Journal	Louisville, Kentucky
1938	sanitarium		The Louisville Times	Louisville, Kentucky
1939	canonical		Telegram & Gazette	Worcester, Massachusetts
1940	therapy		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, Tennessee
1941	initials		The Detroit News	Detroit, Michigan
1942	sacrilegious		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, Texas
1946	semaphore		The Des Moines Register and Tribune	Des Moines, Iowa
1947	chlorophyll		Atlanta Journal	Atlanta, Georgia
1948	psychiatry		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, Ohio
1949	onerous		Canton Repository	Canton, Ohio
1950	meticulosity		Cleveland Press	Cleveland, Ohio
	Atlanta Journal	Atlanta, Georgia
1951	insouciant		Memphis Press Scimitar	Memphis, Tennessee
1952	vignette		Winston-Salem Journal	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1953	soubrette		Arizona Republic	Phoenix, Arizona
1954	transept		Norristown Times Herald	Norristown, Pennsylvania
1955	crustaceology		St. Louis Globe-Democrat	St. Louis, Missouri
1956	condominium		Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1957	schappe		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
	Canton Repository	Canton, Ohio
1958	syllepsis		Topeka Daily Capital	Topeka, Kansas
1959	catamaran		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
1960	eudaemonic		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, Tennessee
1961	smaragdine		Tulsa Tribune	Tulsa, Oklahoma
1962	esquamulose		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, Texas
	St. Louis Globe-Democrat	St. Louis, Missouri
1963	equipage		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, Tennessee
1964	sycophant		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, Ohio
1965	eczema		Tulsa Tribune	Tulsa, Oklahoma
1966	ratoon		Houston Chronicle	Houston, Texas
1967	chihuahua		The Omaha World-Herald	Omaha, Nebraska
1968	abalone		The Topeka Daily Capital	Topeka, Kansas
1969	interlocutory		Dallas Morning News	Dallas, Texas
1970	croissant		Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1971	shalloon		Philadelphia Bulletin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1972	macerate		Lubbock Avalanche-Journal	Lubbock, Texas
1973	vouchsafe		Fort Worth Press	Fort Worth, Texas
1974	hydrophyte		Birmingham Post-Herald	Birmingham, Alabama
1975	incisor		San Juan Star	San Juan, Puerto Rico
1976	narcolepsy		Syracuse Herald-Journal	Syracuse, New York
1977	cambist		The Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1978	deification		The Topeka Capital-Journal	Topeka, Kansas
1979	maculature		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
1980	elucubrate		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
1981	sarcophagus		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, Texas
1982	psoriasis		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
1983	Purim		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, Texas
1984	luge		Loudoun Times-Mirror	Leesburg, Virginia
1985	milieu		Chicago Tribune	Chicago, Illinois
1986	odontalgia		The Patriot News	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
1987	staphylococci		The Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1988	elegiacal		The Sacramento Bee	Sacramento, California
1989	spoliator		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
1990	fibranne		The Seattle Times	Seattle, Washington
1991	antipyretic		Wisconsin State Journal	Clintonville, Wisconsin
1992	lyceum		The Richmond News Leader	Richmond, Virginia
1993	kamikaze		The Commercial Appeal	Memphis, Tennessee
1994	antediluvian		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, Tennessee
1995	xanthosis		The Commercial Appeal	Memphis, Tennessee
1996	vivisepulture		The Palm Beach Post	West Palm Beach, Florida
1997	euonym		New York Daily News	New York City
1998	chiaroscurist		Phillips & Phillips Stationery Suppliers	Kingston, Jamaica
1999	logorrhea		The Tampa Tribune	Tampa, Florida
2000	demarche		St. Louis Post-Dispatch	St. Louis, Missouri
2001	succedaneum		Aitkin Independent Age	Aitkin, Minnesota
2002	prospicience		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, Colorado
2003	pococurante		Dallas Morning News	Dallas, Texas
2004	autochthonous		South Bend Tribune	South Bend, Indiana
2005	appoggiatura		San Diego Union-Tribune	San Diego, California
2006	Ursprache		Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune	Spring Lake, New Jersey
2007	serrefine		Contra Costa Times	Walnut Creek, California
2008	guerdon		Journal & Courier	West Lafayette, Indiana
2009	Laodicean		The Olathe News	Olathe, Kansas
2010	stromuhr		The Plain Dealer	Cleveland, Ohio
2011	cymotrichous		Times Leader	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
2012	guetapens		U-T San Diego	San Diego, California
2013	knaidel		New York Daily News	New York City
2014	stichomythia		Corning Rotary Club	Corning, New York
feuilleton		Texas Christian University	Fort Worth, Texas
2015	scherenschnitte		The Olathe News	Olathe, Kansas
nunatak		St. Louis Post-Dispatch	St. Louis, Missouri
2016	Feldenkrais		Corning Rotary Club	Corning, New York
gesellschaft		Houston Public Media	Austin, Texas
2017	marocain		The Fresno Bee	Fresno, California
2018	koinonia	Karthik Nemmani	Scoggins Middle School	McKinney, Texas
2019	auslaut		Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee	San Jose, California
erysipelas		Adventure Travel	Huntsville, Alabama
bougainvillea		Howard County Library	Clarksville, Maryland
aiguillette		Rosa International Middle School	Cherry Hill, New Jersey
pendeloque		Dallas Sports Commission	Dallas, Texas
palama		Dallas Sports Commission	Flower Mound, Texas
cernuous		Discover Lehigh Valley	Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
odylic		Dallas Sports Commission	Irving, Texas
2021	murraya		New Orleans Chapter of the Links	New Orleans, Louisiana
2022	moorhen	Harini Logan	The Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre Association	San Antonio, Texas
2023	psammophile	Dev Shah	SNSB Region One Bee	Largo, Florida
2024	abseil	Bruhat Soma	Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund	St. Petersburg, Florida
2025	éclaircissement	Faizan Zaki	Dallas Sports Commission	Allen, Texas