Find out how popular the last name Shawcross is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Shawcross.

Shawcross, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Shawcross surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shawcross in America

Shawcross is the 84748th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shawcross surname appeared 221 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Shawcross.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shawcross to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Shawcross

The surname SHAWCROSS originated in England during the medieval period. It is a locational name, derived from a place name meaning "the cross on the shaw or small wood". The earliest known bearers were likely residents of a hamlet near Wigan in Lancashire, where such a place was recorded.

The name is found in records from the 13th century onwards, with early spellings including Shawcrosse, Shacrosse, and Shaucrosse. An Alanus de Shaucrosse is mentioned in the Lancashire Assize Rolls of 1285. By the 16th century, the modern spelling SHAWCROSS had become established.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a place called Schordis is recorded in Lancashire, which may be related to the name's origins. Similarly, the village of Shaw Cross near Dewsbury in Yorkshire could have given rise to some instances of the surname.

Notable bearers of the name include John Shawcross (c.1534-1586), an English Catholic priest and martyr executed for his faith during the reign of Elizabeth I. Another early bearer was William Shawcross (1589-1661), a Puritan minister and writer from Lancashire.

In the 18th century, Henry Shawcross (1716-1789) was a merchant and banker in Liverpool, while his son John Shawcross (1749-1823) became a prominent cotton manufacturer. The Victorian era saw Henry Lacon Shawcross (1820-1889), a Church of England clergyman who served as Rector of Hartington in Derbyshire.

One of the most famous 20th century bearers was Sir Hartley Shawcross (1902-2003), a British lawyer and Labour politician who served as Attorney General and led the prosecution of Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

While originally an English surname, SHAWCROSS has spread to other parts of the world over the centuries through migration and is now found in many countries. However, its roots lie firmly in the medieval settlements and language of northwest England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shawcross

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Shawcross.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Shawcross was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Shawcross has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Shawcross was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Shawcross, please contact us.

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