2000
#5,735
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,535
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.05
Rare Last name
Scheer
A German occupational surname referring to a cloth cutter or tailor, derived from the German word "scherer."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,204 Americans carry the last name Scheer. That puts it at #6,093 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 55,247 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Scheer surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
6.2K
1 in 55,247
Census rank
#6,093
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,410 bearers of the surname Scheer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6093rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Scheer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Scheer
The surname Scheer is of German origin and derives from the Middle High German word "scheren", which means "to shear" or "to cut". It likely originated as an occupational name for a shearer or cloth cutter in the Middle Ages.
The name is first recorded in the 13th century in the region of Bavaria, southern Germany. Early variations of the spelling include Scherer, Scherer, and Schär. Similar names like Scheurer and Schürmann also emerged from the same root word.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name is Chunrat der Scherer, mentioned in a document from Regensburg, Bavaria in 1285. Another early record is of a Johannes Scherer from Nürnberg in 1348.
The Scheer name spread throughout German-speaking regions in the following centuries. It appears in various town records and taxation lists from the 14th to 16th centuries in places like Augsburg, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg.
Notable historical figures with the surname include Traugott von Scheer (1891-1973), a German naval officer who commanded the High Seas Fleet towards the end of World War I. Reinhard Scheer (1863-1928) was a German admiral and writer, known for his memoir "Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War".
Other bearers of the name were Johann Baptist von Scherer (1768-1844), a German historian and writer, and Wilhelm Scheer (1876-1923), a German artist and painter associated with the Expressionist movement.
In the 19th century, the surname was well-established in regions like Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. Scheer families also migrated to other parts of Europe and North America during this period.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scheer
Among Census respondents with the surname Scheer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Scheer bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Scheer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 4,980
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 184
- Two or more races2.8% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 25
- Black or African American0.3% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Scheer
Scheer appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#6,015
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,719
+184 bearers (+3.3%)
Per 100,000 1.94
Rank movement Down 280 places
2020
#6,093
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,410
-309 bearers (-5.4%)
Per 100,000 1.81
Rank movement Down 78 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,735 | 5,535 | 2.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,015 | 5,719 | 1.94 | +184 bearers (+3.3%) | Down 280 places |
| 2020 | #6,093 | 5,410 | 1.81 | -309 bearers (-5.4%) | Down 78 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Scheer surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,015 | #6,093 | -1.3% |
| Count | 5,719 | 5,410 | -5.4% |
| Per 100K | 1.94 | 1.81 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Scheer bearers went from 5,719 to 5,410 (-5.4% change). The surname moved down 78 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,015 to #6,093.
FAQ
Scheer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Scheer?
Name Census estimates that about 6,204 living Americans carry the surname Scheer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 55,247 residents.
How common is Scheer?
Scheer ranks #6,093 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,410 people with the surname Scheer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,204), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Scheer.
Has Scheer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Scheer went from 5,719 recorded bearers to 5,410. That is a decrease of 309 (-5.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,015 to #6,093.
What does the Census say about the background of Scheer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Scheer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Scheer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (4,980 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Scheer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Scheer (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Scheer mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a cloth cutter or tailor, derived from the German word "scherer." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Scheer (1.81 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Scheer?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.