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

Sheriff, 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 Sheriff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sheriff in America

Sheriff is the 7180th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sheriff surname appeared 4,657 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Sheriff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sheriff 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 Sheriff

The surname Sheriff is of Anglo-Norman origin, derived from the Old English words "scir" meaning shire and "refa" meaning guardian or bailiff. It originated in England during the 11th century after the Norman Conquest and was initially used to denote someone who held the position of a shire-reeve, a royal official responsible for enforcing the law and collecting taxes.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Sheriff can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landholdings and property rights in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This historical document mentions individuals with the surname Sheriff or variants like Shireve, Shirreve, and Shereve.

During the Middle Ages, the Sheriff surname was particularly prominent in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, where many families held the hereditary position of shire-reeve. Notable individuals from this era include Sir John Sheriff (1545-1618), a wealthy landowner and Member of Parliament for Norfolk, and Richard Sheriff (c.1500-1555), a clergyman who served as the Bishop of St. David's in Wales.

As surnames became more widespread and hereditary, the Sheriff name also spread to other parts of England and eventually to Scotland and Ireland. One notable bearer of the name was William Sheriff (1784-1868), a Scottish engineer and inventor credited with developing the first practical steam locomotive for railways.

In the United States, the Sheriff surname can be traced back to the 17th century when English settlers began arriving in colonial America. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Samuel Sheriff (1624-1696), who was among the founders of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Another notable American with this surname was Patrick Henry Sheriff (1786-1821), a lawyer and statesman who served as the Attorney General of North Carolina.

Other notable individuals with the surname Sheriff include John Sheriff (1658-1734), an English merchant and Member of Parliament for Scarborough, and Sir Robert Sheriff (1868-1947), a British judge and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of London from 1923 to 1924.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sheriff

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

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

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

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