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

Shem, 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 Shem surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shem in America

Shem is the 108199th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shem surname appeared 164 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 Shem.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shem 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 Shem

The surname SHEM is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Biblical name Shem, which means "name" or "renown." It is believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where Shem was considered one of the three sons of Noah.

SHEM is thought to be one of the oldest recorded surnames, with references dating back to the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. The name Shem is mentioned as early as the 5th century BCE in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are among the oldest known biblical manuscripts.

In the Middle Ages, SHEM was a relatively common surname among Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname SHEM can be found in a 12th-century document from the city of Rouen, France, which mentions a merchant named Isaac SHEM.

During the Renaissance period, the surname SHEM was particularly prevalent in Spain and Portugal, where it was often associated with prominent Jewish scholars and rabbis. One notable figure was Isaac ben Shem Tob, a 14th-century philosopher and grammarian from Seville, Spain.

In the 17th century, the SHEM surname made its way to the Americas, where it was adopted by some Sephardic Jewish immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula. One notable bearer of the name was Judah SHEM, a 17th-century Dutch-Jewish philosopher and theologian who settled in Amsterdam.

Other notable individuals with the surname SHEM include Mordecai SHEM, a 16th-century Italian rabbi and author, and Solomon SHEM, a 15th-century Spanish physician and astronomer who was active in the court of King Ferdinand II of Aragon.

While the surname SHEM has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has since spread to various parts of the world and has been adopted by individuals of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. However, its origins and connections to the Biblical figure Shem remain a defining characteristic of this ancient and historically significant surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shem

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

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

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

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