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

Shepherd, 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 Shepherd surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shepherd in America

Shepherd is the 557th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shepherd surname appeared 60,479 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 21 people would have the surname Shepherd.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shepherd 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 Shepherd

The surname Shepherd is an occupational name originating in England, derived from the Old English word "sceaphierde" or "sceaphyrde", meaning a shepherd or someone who tended to sheep. This name first appeared in the late 11th century, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

One of the earliest known records of the surname Shepherd can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Scepherde" in various counties across England. This suggests that the name was already well-established by the late 11th century among those who worked as shepherds or lived in areas associated with sheep farming.

During the Middle Ages, the surname Shepherd was particularly prevalent in counties known for their wool and sheep industries, such as Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and the West Country regions of England. Variations in spelling also emerged, including Sheppard, Shephard, and Shepperd.

Notable individuals bearing the surname Shepherd throughout history include William Shepherd (c. 1554-1604), an English Protestant writer and controversialist; Thomas Shepherd (1605-1649), an English Puritan minister and one of the founders of Harvard College; and William Robert Shepherd (1761-1847), an English architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in London.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Shepherd was also found in Scotland, where it was often rendered as "Shipherd" or "Shepperd". One of the earliest recorded instances of this spelling is John Shipherd, who was born in Anstruther, Fife, Scotland in 1586.

Another notable figure with the surname Shepherd was Thomas Shepherd (1776-1859), an English astronomer and mathematician who served as the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1819 to 1844.

As the name suggests, the surname Shepherd has a strong connection to the pastoral and agricultural traditions of England and Scotland, reflecting the importance of sheep farming in the economies and cultures of these regions throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shepherd

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

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

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

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