Shafer
One of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of the German surname Schäfer.
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the first name Shafer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shafer today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shafer births was 1994 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shafer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
123
~ 1 in 2,786,621 Americans
Peak year
1994
11 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2018 SSA rank
#11,904
Tracked since 1990
Census
Shafer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Shafer, which placed it at #36,618 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shafer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shafer is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Shafer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Shafer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.6% · 172
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 15
- Black or African American6.5% · 14
- Two or more races4.2% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Shafer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shafer from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shafer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shafer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Shafer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shafer
The name Shafer is believed to have originated from the German language, where it was derived from the word "Schäfer," meaning "shepherd." This name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when shepherding was a common occupation in many parts of Europe, particularly in rural areas.
During the Middle Ages, names were often derived from one's occupation or trade, and the name Shafer would have been given to those who worked as shepherds, tending to flocks of sheep or other livestock. This name was prevalent in various regions of Germany, as well as in neighboring countries where German influence was present.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shafer can be found in historical documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable example is Johann Shafer, a German shepherd who lived in the late 14th century and is mentioned in local records from the city of Augsburg.
Throughout history, several individuals with the name Shafer have achieved recognition in various fields. One such figure was Johann Matthäus Shafer, a German composer and organist who lived from 1665 to 1742. He is known for his contributions to sacred music and his work as an organist in several churches in Germany.
Another notable individual was Johann Gottfried Shafer, a German botanist and naturalist who lived from 1768 to 1840. He made significant contributions to the study of plants and is credited with describing numerous plant species, some of which bear his name in their scientific nomenclature.
In the realm of literature, Johann Christoph Friedrich Shafer was a German novelist and playwright who lived from 1776 to 1853. His works, which included several plays and novels, were popular during his time and reflected the cultural and social climate of 19th-century Germany.
The name Shafer has also been present in other fields, such as science and politics. For example, Julius Shafer was a German physicist and inventor who lived from 1825 to 1897. He is known for his contributions to the development of early electrical devices and his work on improving the efficiency of electrical motors.
While the name Shafer has its roots in the German language, it has also been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions over time. However, its origins can be traced back to the occupation of shepherding and the German word "Schäfer," which reflects the rich history and cultural significance of this name.
People
Shafer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shafer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shafer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shafer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shafer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,786,621 US residents.
Is Shafer a common name?
We classify Shafer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shafer most popular?
The single biggest year for Shafer was 1994, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shafer is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shafer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Shafer, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Shafer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Shafer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shafer leans strongly male. 184 people counted with this name were male (84.4%), compared with 34 female bearers (15.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Shafer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shafer is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Shafer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shafer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (172 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Shafer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shafer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shafer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Shafer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shafer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Shafer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Shafer as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Shafer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.