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

Shema, 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 Shema surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shema in America

Shema is the 82044th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shema surname appeared 230 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 Shema.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shema 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 Shema

The surname SHEMA is believed to have originated in Eastern Europe, specifically in regions that are now part of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is thought to have emerged in the late 15th or early 16th century.

The name SHEMA is likely derived from the Slavic word "shem," which means "to murmur" or "to whisper." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who spoke in a quiet or soft manner.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SHEMA can be found in a Polish census record from the city of Krakow, dated 1532. The record lists a family with the surname SHEMA residing in the city at that time.

In the 17th century, there are references to a nobleman named Mikhail SHEMA who owned land in the region of Volyn, which is now part of western Ukraine. Historical records indicate that he was born in 1612 and died in 1678.

Another notable bearer of the surname SHEMA was Andrei SHEMA, a Russian explorer and cartographer who lived in the late 18th century. He was involved in mapping the Aleutian Islands and parts of Alaska during his expeditions between 1768 and 1779.

In the 19th century, a prominent figure with the surname SHEMA was Konstantin SHEMA, a Russian artist and painter who was born in 1822 and died in 1888. He is known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from various regions of Russia.

The name SHEMA has also been associated with several villages and towns in Eastern Europe, such as the village of Shemakha in present-day Azerbaijan, which was mentioned in historical documents as early as the 12th century.

Other notable individuals with the surname SHEMA include Ivan SHEMA, a Russian military officer who served in the Crimean War (1853-1856), and Nadezhda SHEMA, a Russian writer and poet who lived in the late 19th century and published several collections of poetry.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shema

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

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

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

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