2000
#1,264
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 25,498
First available Census row
Per 100,000 9.45
Uncommon Last name
Shafer
An occupational surname referring to a shepherd or sheep shearer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 28,215 Americans carry the last name Shafer. That puts it at #1,410 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 8.23 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 12,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shafer 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
28K
1 in 12,148
Census rank
#1,410
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
8.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
25K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 24,605 bearers of the surname Shafer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 8.23 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1410th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shafer, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shafer
The surname Shafer originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the 12th century. It is derived from the German word "Schäfer," which means "shepherd." The name likely originated as an occupational name for someone who tended sheep or other livestock.
In the Middle Ages, surnames were often derived from a person's occupation or trade. The name Shafer would have been given to someone who worked as a shepherd, indicating that this was a common profession in the regions where the name first emerged.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shafer can be found in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Westphalia in northwestern Germany, dated around 1200 CE. This document mentions a person named "Conradus Schäffer."
The name Shafer also appears in various forms in other historical records from different regions of Germany, such as "Scheffer," "Schaefer," and "Schäffer." These variations in spelling were common before the standardization of surnames in the modern era.
Notable individuals with the surname Shafer throughout history include Johann Schäfer (1624-1677), a German composer and organist; Johann Gottlob Benjamin Jakobi-Schäfer (1762-1805), a German poet and writer; and August Schäfer (1833-1916), a German painter and art professor.
Other prominent figures with this surname include Johann Wilhelm Schäfer (1768-1836), a German botanist and naturalist, and Michael Schäfer (1770-1841), a German theologian and philosopher.
It is worth noting that the surname Shafer has also been found in other countries, such as the United States and Canada, likely due to immigration from German-speaking regions. However, its origins can be traced back to its German roots and the occupation of shepherding.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shafer
Among Census respondents with the surname Shafer, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Shafer 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 Shafer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 22,330
- Two or more races3.6% · 891
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 818
- Black or African American1.0% · 248
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 209
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 109
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shafer
Shafer 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
#1,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 25,641
+143 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 8.69
Rank movement Down 115 places
2020
#1,410
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 24,605
-1,036 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 8.23
Rank movement Down 31 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,264 | 25,498 | 9.45 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,379 | 25,641 | 8.69 | +143 bearers (+0.6%) | Down 115 places |
| 2020 | #1,410 | 24,605 | 8.23 | -1,036 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 31 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 Shafer 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 | #1,379 | #1,410 | -2.2% |
| Count | 25,641 | 24,605 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 8.69 | 8.23 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shafer bearers went from 25,641 to 24,605 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 31 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,379 to #1,410.
FAQ
Shafer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shafer?
Name Census estimates that about 28,215 living Americans carry the surname Shafer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 12,148 residents.
How common is Shafer?
Shafer ranks #1,410 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 8.23 per 100,000 residents, which is about 8 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 24,605 people with the surname Shafer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (28,215), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 8.23 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 8.23 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 8 of them to have the surname Shafer.
Has Shafer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shafer went from 25,641 recorded bearers to 24,605. That is a decrease of 1,036 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,379 to #1,410.
What does the Census say about the background of Shafer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shafer, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Shafer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (22,330 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shafer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.8%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Shafer (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 Shafer mean?
An occupational surname referring to a shepherd or sheep shearer. 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 Shafer (8.23 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 people have the last name Shafer?
See how many people have the last name Shafer on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.