2000
#114,852
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 141
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Shearen
A locational surname referencing someone from near a sheepfold or sheepwalk.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Shearen. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shearen 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Shearen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shearen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shearen
The surname Shearen is believed to have originated in Scotland, likely in the 16th or 17th century. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the Scottish surname Shearer, derived from the occupational term "shearer," which referred to someone who sheared sheep or cut cloth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shearen can be found in the parish records of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where a John Shearen was listed in the late 17th century. The name may have evolved from the older Scottish surname Sherar or Sherar, which can be traced back to the 15th century.
In the 18th century, the Shearen surname began to appear in various regions of Scotland, including Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and the Scottish Borders. It is possible that the name was also influenced by the Scots word "shearin," meaning a share or portion of land.
One notable bearer of the Shearen surname was William Shearen (1825-1908), a Scottish-born Australian politician who served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in the late 19th century. Another was James Shearen (1854-1926), a Scottish-born Australian businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the mining industry.
In the United States, the Shearen surname can be traced back to the early 19th century, with immigrants from Scotland and Ireland settling in various parts of the country. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was John Shearen, who was born in Ireland around 1797 and later immigrated to the United States.
Another notable Shearen was John Shearen (1856-1938), an American architect who designed several notable buildings in Los Angeles, California, including the Bradbury Building and the Grand Central Market.
Throughout its history, the Shearen surname has also had various spelling variations, including Sheren, Sheeran, and Shearren, reflecting the influence of different regional dialects and the absence of standardized spelling conventions in earlier centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shearen
Among Census respondents with the surname Shearen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Shearen 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 Shearen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 3
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shearen
Shearen 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
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
-36 bearers (-25.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 40,055 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
+10 bearers (+9.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 9,150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #114,852 | 141 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | -36 bearers (-25.5%) | Down 40,055 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | +10 bearers (+9.5%) | Up 9,150 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 Shearen 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 | #154,907 | #145,757 | 5.9% |
| Count | 105 | 115 | 9.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shearen bearers went from 105 to 115 (+9.5% change). The surname moved up 9,150 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #145,757.
FAQ
Shearen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shearen?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Shearen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Shearen?
Shearen ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Shearen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Shearen.
Has Shearen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shearen went from 105 recorded bearers to 115. That is an increase of 10 (+9.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #154,907 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Shearen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shearen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Shearen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (104 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shearen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (2.6%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Shearen (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 Shearen mean?
A locational surname referencing someone from near a sheepfold or sheepwalk. 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 Shearen (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 many people share the surname Shearen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.