The Past Two Decades by the Numbers:
Year | Spellers | Rounds | Words | Repeaters |
| 2010 | 273 | 9 | 683 | 56 |
2009 | 293 | 16 | 760 | 69 |
2008 | 288 | 16 | 603 | 57 |
2007 | 286 | 13 | 638 | 56 |
2006 | 274 | 20 | 628 | 66 |
2005 | 273 | 19 | 658 | 69 |
2004 | 265 | 15 | 567 | 59 |
2003 | 251 | 15 | 552 | 54 |
2002 | 250 | 11 | 480 | 54 |
2001 | 248 | 16 | 766 | 52 |
2000 | 248 | 15 | 839 | 51 |
1999 | 249 | 12 | 803 | 47 |
1998 | 249 | 11 | 733 | 43 |
1997 | 245 | 23 | 898 | 49 |
1996 | 247 | 13 | 799 | 43 |
1995 | 247 | 11 | 835 | 45 |
1994 | 238 | 15 | 968 | 41 |
1993 | 235 | 16 | 963 | 43 |
1992 | 227 | 16 | 952 | 46 |
1991 | 227 | 25 | 880 | 41 |
The 2009 Finals by the Numbers:
| Round | Number of Spellers in Round | Number Eliminated in Round |
| 1 | 273 | — |
| 2 | 273 | — |
| 3 | 273 | 225 |
| 4 | 48 | 16 |
| 5 | 32 | 13 |
| 6 | 19 | 11 |
| 7 | 8 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | — |
The Top Finishers of 2010:
Ranked 1st:
- Anamika Veeramani, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio
Ranked 2nd:
- Adrian Saputra Gunawan, Commonwealth Edison, Chicago, Illinois
- Elizabeth Platz, Columbia Daily Tribune, Columbia, Missouri
- Shantanu S. Srivatsa, North Dakota Council of Education Leaders, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ranked 5th:
- Laura Olivia Newcombe, CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Lanson T. Tang, The Meakem Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, Bethesda, Maryland
- Joanna Ye, WITF: Public Media Central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Andrew Grose, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisconsin