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

Shearer, 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 Shearer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shearer in America

Shearer is the 2033rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shearer surname appeared 17,707 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Shearer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shearer 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 Shearer

The surname Shearer originated in England and Scotland during the medieval period. It is an occupational surname derived from the Old English word "scearra" or the Middle English word "sherre," meaning "to cut" or "to shear." The name refers to someone who worked as a shearer, typically shearing sheep or cutting cloth.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shearer can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire from 1197, where it appears as "Willelmus le Shearere." This record suggests that the surname was already in use in England by the late 12th century.

In Scotland, the name Shearer is believed to have originated in the Scottish Borders region and the Lowlands. It is documented in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from 1365, where it appears as "Johannes Sherar." The spelling variations during this period include "Sherar," "Sheirer," and "Sherrare."

Notable historical figures with the surname Shearer include John Shearer (c. 1615-1693), a Scottish covenanter who fought against religious persecution, and Thomas Shearer (1758-1808), a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Other notable individuals with this surname are Robert Shearer (1838-1918), a Scottish-American industrialist who co-founded the Deere & Company agricultural machinery company, and Henry Shearer (1850-1922), an Australian politician who served as the Premier of Western Australia from 1904 to 1905.

In the literary world, James Shearer (1828-1865) was a Scottish poet and journalist who published several collections of poems, including "Gleanings from the Poets of Nithsdale" (1855) and "The White Rose and the Red" (1857).

While the surname Shearer is found predominantly in England, Scotland, and countries with significant British immigration, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, it has spread across the globe over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shearer

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

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 Shearer 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 Shearer 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 Shearer was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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