2000
#7,769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,944
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.46
Rare Last name
Sheriff
An occupational surname referring to a person who held the position of sheriff, a local law enforcement officer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,453 Americans carry the last name Sheriff. That puts it at #6,813 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.59 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 62,856 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sheriff 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Sheriff with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.5K
1 in 62,856
Census rank
#6,813
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,755 bearers of the surname Sheriff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.59 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6813th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheriff, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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 This historical document mentions individuals with the surname Sheriff or variants like Shireve, Shirreve, and Shereve.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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheriff
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheriff, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Sheriff 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 Sheriff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 2,496
- Black or African American34.4% · 1,638
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 310
- Two or more races3.6% · 169
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sheriff
Sheriff appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#7,180
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,657
+713 bearers (+18.1%)
Per 100,000 1.58
Rank movement Up 589 places
2020
#6,813
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,755
+98 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 1.59
Rank movement Up 367 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,769 | 3,944 | 1.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,180 | 4,657 | 1.58 | +713 bearers (+18.1%) | Up 589 places |
| 2020 | #6,813 | 4,755 | 1.59 | +98 bearers (+2.1%) | Up 367 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 Sheriff 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 | #7,180 | #6,813 | 5.1% |
| Count | 4,657 | 4,755 | 2.1% |
| Per 100K | 1.58 | 1.59 | 0.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sheriff bearers went from 4,657 to 4,755 (+2.1% change). The surname moved up 367 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,180 to #6,813.
FAQ
Sheriff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sheriff?
Name Census estimates that about 5,453 living Americans carry the surname Sheriff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 62,856 residents.
How common is Sheriff?
Sheriff ranks #6,813 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.59 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,755 people with the surname Sheriff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,453), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.59 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.59 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Sheriff.
Has Sheriff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sheriff went from 4,657 recorded bearers to 4,755. That is an increase of 98 (+2.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #7,180 to #6,813.
What does the Census say about the background of Sheriff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sheriff, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%). 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 Sheriff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (2,496 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sheriff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (52.5%), Black (34.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%). 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 Sheriff (2000, 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 Sheriff mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who held the position of sheriff, a local law enforcement officer. 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 Sheriff (1.59 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 common is the surname Sheriff?
Find out how many people have the last name Sheriff on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.