2000
#1,987
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,716
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.20
Uncommon Last name
Shaver
An occupational surname referring to one who shaved or cut hair, such as a barber.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 18,388 Americans carry the last name Shaver. That puts it at #2,209 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.36 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 18,640 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shaver 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
18K
1 in 18,640
Census rank
#2,209
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
16K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,035 bearers of the surname Shaver in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.36 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2209th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shaver
The surname SHAVER is of English origin, derived from the occupation of a person who shaved or cut hair for a living. The name can be traced back to the Middle English period, around the 13th-14th century, when it first emerged as a descriptive occupational surname.
The name is believed to have originated from the Old English word "scafan," meaning "to shave" or "to scrape." Over time, this evolved into the Middle English "shaven" and eventually became the modern surname SHAVER. The earliest recorded spelling variations include Shaver, Shavers, Shavere, and Shaveour.
One of the earliest known references to the surname SHAVER can be found in the Calender of Wills, Husting Roll, dated around 1285, which mentions a person named "Hugh le Shavere" living in London at the time. This suggests that the name was already in use as an occupational descriptor by the late 13th century.
In the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire, dated 1273, there is a record of a "William le Shavere" residing in that county. Similarly, the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1301 mention a "John le Shavere" living in the region.
One notable historical figure with the surname SHAVER was William Shaver (1642-1705), an English navigator and explorer who is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the western coast of Australia. He served as a pilot on several voyages to the East Indies and published accounts of his travels.
Another prominent individual was Robert Shaver (1679-1734), an English writer and clergyman who authored several religious works, including "The Life of Christ" and "The History of the Church of England."
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname SHAVER dates back to the 17th century. Jacob Shaver (1635-1712) was a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 1600s and is considered one of the progenitors of the SHAVER family in America.
Another notable American with the surname was Benjamin Franklin Shaver (1813-1897), a lawyer and politician from South Carolina who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1857.
In more recent history, Henry Arthur Shaver (1858-1946) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who founded the Shaver Homesteads, a network of planned rural communities designed to provide affordable housing and employment opportunities for families during the Great Depression.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaver
Among Census respondents with the surname Shaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Shaver 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 Shaver surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 14,099
- Two or more races4.0% · 640
- Black or African American3.6% · 579
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 537
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 95
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 85
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shaver
Shaver 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
#2,135
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,972
+256 bearers (+1.5%)
Per 100,000 5.75
Rank movement Down 148 places
2020
#2,209
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,035
-937 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 5.36
Rank movement Down 74 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,987 | 16,716 | 6.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,135 | 16,972 | 5.75 | +256 bearers (+1.5%) | Down 148 places |
| 2020 | #2,209 | 16,035 | 5.36 | -937 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 74 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 Shaver 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 | #2,135 | #2,209 | -3.5% |
| Count | 16,972 | 16,035 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 5.75 | 5.36 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shaver bearers went from 16,972 to 16,035 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 74 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,135 to #2,209.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Shaver
FAQ
Shaver surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shaver?
Name Census estimates that about 18,388 living Americans carry the surname Shaver. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 18,640 residents.
How common is Shaver?
Shaver ranks #2,209 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.36 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,035 people with the surname Shaver. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (18,388), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.36 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.36 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Shaver.
Has Shaver become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shaver went from 16,972 recorded bearers to 16,035. That is a decrease of 937 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,135 to #2,209.
What does the Census say about the background of Shaver?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shaver, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.6%). 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 Shaver in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (14,099 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shaver appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.9%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Black (3.6%). 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 Shaver (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 Shaver mean?
An occupational surname referring to one who shaved or cut hair, such as a barber. 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 Shaver (5.36 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 Shaver?
Find out how many people have the surname Shaver on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.