Shaffer
One of varying spellings meaning "basket maker" or "bargainer" from German origins.
Name Census estimates that about 41 living Americans carry the first name Shaffer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shaffer today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaffer births was 2002 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaffer. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shaffer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
41
~ 1 in 8,359,862 Americans
Peak year
2002
9 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2011 SSA rank
#14,014
Tracked since 1971
Census
Shaffer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Shaffer, which placed it at #38,294 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
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaffer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaffer is White at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Black (19.9%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Shaffer 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 Shaffer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.1% · 145
- Black or African American19.9% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 10
- Two or more races2.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Shaffer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaffer from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Shaffer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaffer 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 Shaffer 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 Shaffer
The name Shaffer has its origins in the German language and is derived from the occupation of a shepherd or sheep herder. It is believed to have emerged as a surname in the Middle Ages, likely between the 11th and 14th centuries.
The name Shaffer is a variation of the German word "Schäfer," which directly translates to "shepherd." It is related to similar words in other Germanic languages, such as the Dutch "schaap" and the Old English "sceap," both meaning "sheep."
While the name Shaffer is primarily associated with German-speaking regions, its use as a given name can be traced back to the late 16th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shaffer being used as a first name is in the baptismal records of the city of Nuremberg, Germany, in the year 1587.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the first name Shaffer. One of the earliest recorded was Shaffer von Wittelsbach (1491-1548), a German nobleman and military commander who served as a general in the Schmalkaldic War.
Another prominent figure was Shaffer Braun (1622-1703), a German composer and organist who is best known for his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude genre in the Baroque era.
In the 19th century, Shaffer Bernstein (1819-1892) was a German-American businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the establishment of educational institutions in New York City.
In the realm of literature, Shaffer Hesse (1877-1962) was a German-born Swiss novelist, poet, and painter, best known for his influential novel "Siddhartha."
More recently, Shaffer Green (1937-2022) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for several teams, including the Boston Celtics and the Seattle SuperSonics.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have carried the first name Shaffer throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Shaffer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaffer 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
Shaffer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaffer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaffer 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 8,359,862 US residents.
Is Shaffer a common name?
We classify Shaffer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaffer most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaffer was 2002, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaffer is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaffer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Shaffer, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 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 Shaffer 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 Shaffer?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shaffer on both sides of the split. Of the 204 people counted with this name, 162 were male (79.4%) and 42 were female (20.6%). 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 Shaffer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaffer is White at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Black (19.9%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Shaffer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shaffer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.1% (145 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 Shaffer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaffer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaffer 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 Shaffer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaffer 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 Shaffer 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 share the name Shaffer?
You can see how many Americans are named Shaffer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.