2010
#141,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Sheinin
An anglicized form of the Ukrainian surname meaning 'son of Shen'.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Sheinin. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sheinin 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
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Sheinin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheinin, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sheinin
The surname "SHEININ" is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, derived from the Hebrew word "Sheini" meaning "second" or "duplicate." It is believed to have originated in Eastern Europe, possibly in Belarus or Ukraine, during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in Jewish community records from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is likely that the name was initially used as a descriptive term for a second child or a person with a duplicate name within a family or community.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Sheinin was Rabbi Shmuel Sheinin, a prominent Talmudic scholar who lived in the late 16th century in the town of Brest, Belarus (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).
In the 18th century, the name appeared in various census records and synagogue documents across Eastern Europe, particularly in the regions of modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland. For example, in 1765, a man named Yitzchak Sheinin was listed as a resident of the town of Pinsk (now in Belarus).
During the 19th century, as Jewish communities faced persecution and economic hardship in Eastern Europe, many individuals with the surname Sheinin emigrated to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and South Africa. One notable figure was Solomon Sheinin (1832-1905), a successful businessman and philanthropist who settled in Odessa, Ukraine.
Another significant individual with the surname Sheinin was Lev Sheinin (1887-1937), a Soviet politician and one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. He served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR from 1923 to 1925.
In more recent times, the name Sheinin has been associated with various professionals and public figures, such as Boris Sheinin (1917-2004), a Soviet-born Canadian violinist and conductor, and Semyon Sheinin (born 1945), a Russian-American computer scientist and professor at the University of Maryland.
While the surname Sheinin may have different spellings or variations in different regions, its origins can be traced back to the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, where it evolved as a descriptive name reflecting family dynamics and naming traditions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheinin
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheinin, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Sheinin 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 Sheinin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 107
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sheinin
Sheinin appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
-7 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,525 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #141,140 | 118 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 7,525 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 Sheinin 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 | #141,140 | #148,665 | -5.3% |
| Count | 118 | 111 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sheinin bearers went from 118 to 111 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 7,525 positions in the national ranking, going from #141,140 to #148,665.
FAQ
Sheinin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sheinin?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Sheinin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Sheinin?
Sheinin ranks #148,665 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 111 people with the surname Sheinin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), 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 Sheinin.
Has Sheinin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sheinin went from 118 recorded bearers to 111. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #141,140 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Sheinin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheinin, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Sheinin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sheinin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.4%), Black (0.9%), Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Sheinin (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 Sheinin mean?
An anglicized form of the Ukrainian surname meaning 'son of Shen'. 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 Sheinin (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 Sheinin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.