2000
#1,306
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 24,712
First available Census row
Per 100,000 9.16
Uncommon Last name
Shapiro
A habitational surname indicating someone from the town of Speyer in Germany, or from Sapir, Ukraine.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 26,159 Americans carry the last name Shapiro. That puts it at #1,530 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 13,103 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shapiro 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Shapiro with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
26K
1 in 13,103
Census rank
#1,530
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
23K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 22,812 bearers of the surname Shapiro in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1530th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shapiro, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shapiro
The surname Shapiro is a Jewish name that originated in Germany and Eastern Europe. It is derived from the German and Yiddish word "shap," meaning "to draw water," and the suffix "-er," implying an occupation. Therefore, the name likely referred to someone who drew water from a well or a river for their community.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 17th century in Germany and Poland. One notable early bearer of the name was Rabbi Shalom Shachna Shapiro, a renowned Talmudic scholar born in 1589 in Lublin, Poland. He was a student of the famous Rabbi Joel Sirkis and wrote several influential works on Jewish law.
In the 18th century, the name appeared in various records across Eastern Europe, including the 1784 census of the town of Pinsk (now in Belarus), which listed several families with the surname Shapiro.
As Jews migrated westward during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the name spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Muir Shapiro (1838-1919), a British lawyer and judge who served as the Lord Justice of Appeal and was knighted in 1901.
In the United States, the name became more prominent with the influx of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some famous Americans with the surname include:
1. Howard Shapiro (1912-2001), a Tony Award-winning theater producer and director.
2. Isaac Leeser Shapiro (1916-2008), a renowned physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and later became a professor at Harvard University.
3. Dory Schary (born Isador Schary Shapiro, 1905-1980), a celebrated film director, producer, and screenwriter who won several Academy Awards.
4. Carl Shapiro (born 1955), an economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, known for his work on antitrust and competition policy.
5. Mikhail Shapiro (born 1986), a Russian-American bioengineer and professor at the California Institute of Technology, known for his pioneering work in biomolecular imaging and nanomedicine.
While the name Shapiro is most commonly associated with the Jewish diaspora, it has also been adopted by non-Jewish individuals in various parts of the world, reflecting the diversity and cultural exchange that has shaped the evolution of surnames.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shapiro
Among Census respondents with the surname Shapiro, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Shapiro 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 Shapiro surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 21,250
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 709
- Two or more races2.2% · 498
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 233
- Black or African American0.5% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shapiro
Shapiro 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
#1,469
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 24,335
-377 bearers (-1.5%)
Per 100,000 8.25
Rank movement Down 163 places
2020
#1,530
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,812
-1,523 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 7.63
Rank movement Down 61 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,306 | 24,712 | 9.16 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,469 | 24,335 | 8.25 | -377 bearers (-1.5%) | Down 163 places |
| 2020 | #1,530 | 22,812 | 7.63 | -1,523 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 61 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 Shapiro 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 | #1,469 | #1,530 | -4.2% |
| Count | 24,335 | 22,812 | -6.3% |
| Per 100K | 8.25 | 7.63 | -7.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shapiro bearers went from 24,335 to 22,812 (-6.3% change). The surname moved down 61 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,469 to #1,530.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Shapiro
FAQ
Shapiro surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shapiro?
Name Census estimates that about 26,159 living Americans carry the surname Shapiro. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 13,103 residents.
How common is Shapiro?
Shapiro ranks #1,530 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.63 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 22,812 people with the surname Shapiro. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (26,159), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.63 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 Shapiro.
Has Shapiro become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shapiro went from 24,335 recorded bearers to 22,812. That is a decrease of 1,523 (-6.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,469 to #1,530.
What does the Census say about the background of Shapiro?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shapiro, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Shapiro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (21,250 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shapiro appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.2%), Hispanic (3.1%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Shapiro (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 Shapiro mean?
A habitational surname indicating someone from the town of Speyer in Germany, or from Sapir, Ukraine. 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 Shapiro (7.63 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 surname Shapiro?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.