2000
#127,948
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 123
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Shanower
An occupational surname of English origin meaning a sheepshaver or wool shearer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Shanower. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shanower 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Shanower in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shanower, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shanower
The surname Shanower is believed to have originated in Germany, with records showing the earliest known usage dating back to the late 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old German word "schon," meaning "beautiful," and "auer," referring to a meadow or water meadow. Thus, the name Shanower may have initially referred to someone who lived near a particularly scenic meadow or area of water-meadow land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Wittenberg, Germany, where a Christoph Shanower is listed as a landowner in 1587. This suggests the name had already been established in the region by that time.
Another early reference comes from the parish records of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where a Johannes Shanower is mentioned as having been born in 1603. This provides further evidence that the name was present in various regions of Germany in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In terms of notable individuals with the Shanower surname, one of the earliest was Hans Shanower, a German artist and engraver who lived from 1620 to 1681. His detailed etchings and woodcuts depicting landscapes and scenes from daily life in 17th-century Germany are highly regarded by historians and art scholars.
Another prominent figure was Wilhelmina Shanower, a German-born American educator and women's rights activist who lived from 1832 to 1916. She was a vocal proponent of women's suffrage and played a key role in establishing several schools and educational programs for women in the United States.
In more recent times, Eric Shanower (born 1963) is a renowned American comic book writer and artist, best known for his work on the Age of Bronze series, which retells the story of the Trojan War in intricate detail.
While the name Shanower is not among the most common surnames, it has a rich history dating back several centuries, with early bearers hailing from various regions of Germany. The name's probable origins in Old German words related to scenic meadows and water-meadow areas provide an intriguing glimpse into the lives and surroundings of its earliest bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanower
Among Census respondents with the surname Shanower, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Shanower 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 Shanower surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 106
- Two or more races5.1% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
- Black or African American1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shanower
Shanower 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
#129,825
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
+8 bearers (+6.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,877 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-13 bearers (-9.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 13,686 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #127,948 | 123 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #129,825 | 131 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+6.5%) | Down 1,877 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -13 bearers (-9.9%) | Down 13,686 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 Shanower 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 | #129,825 | #143,511 | -10.5% |
| Count | 131 | 118 | -9.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -1.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shanower bearers went from 131 to 118 (-9.9% change). The surname moved down 13,686 positions in the national ranking, going from #129,825 to #143,511.
FAQ
Shanower surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shanower?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Shanower. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Shanower?
Shanower ranks #143,511 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 118 people with the surname Shanower. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Shanower.
Has Shanower become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shanower went from 131 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 13 (-9.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #129,825 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Shanower?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shanower, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Shanower in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shanower appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.8%), Two or More Races (5.1%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Shanower (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 Shanower mean?
An occupational surname of English origin meaning a sheepshaver or wool 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 Shanower (0.04 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 common is the surname Shanower?
Find out how many people have the last name Shanower on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.