Shiel last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Shiel

A surname derived from the Scottish Gaelic word "sìol" meaning seed or descendant.

Shiel, 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 Shiel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shiel in America

Shiel is the 39486th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shiel surname appeared 557 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 Shiel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shiel 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.

	2010	2000	Change (%)
Rank	39486	32984	17.94%
Count	557	655	-16.17%
Proportion per 100k	0.19	0.24	-23.26%

The history of the last name Shiel

The surname SHIEL is of Scottish origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "scyll" or "scield," which means "shield" or "protection." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone who was a skilled warrior or protector.

The SHIEL surname is found most prominently in the Scottish Borders region, particularly in the areas of Roxburghshire and Berwickshire. It is possible that the name originated in these areas and was later adopted by families who migrated to other parts of Scotland and beyond.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the SHIEL surname can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of homage rolls from Scotland during the reign of King Edward I of England. This document mentions a certain "William Schele" from Berwickshire, indicating that the name was already in use at that time.

In the 15th century, the SHIEL surname appeared in the records of the Clan Chisholm, a prominent Scottish clan with roots in the Highlands. It is unclear whether the SHIELs were a sept (branch) of the Chisholms or simply shared a similar name, but this connection suggests that the name may have been present in the Highlands as well as the Borders.

Notable individuals with the SHIEL surname include:

Sir Samuel Shiel (1820-1883), an Irish-born Australian politician and judge who served as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Matthew Nasmyth Shiel (1865-1960), an American author known for his early science fiction and horror stories, including the novel "The Purple Cloud."
Sir Justin Shiel (1886-1966), a British diplomat and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of British Somaliland from 1948 to 1954.
Myles Shiel (1920-2006), an Irish hurler who played for the Tipperary senior hurling team and won two All-Ireland medals.
Desmond Shiel (born 1935), a British actor and playwright known for his work in television and theater.

Throughout its history, the SHIEL surname has undergone various spellings, such as Sheal, Sheill, Sheill, and Sheel, which reflect the phonetic variations and regional dialects of different areas. The name has also been associated with certain place names, such as Shieldhill in Falkirk, Scotland, which may have influenced its development or been derived from the surname itself.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shiel

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

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:

White only
Black only
American Indian and Alaskan Native only
Asian and Pacific Islander only
Hispanic
Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Shiel was:

Race/Ethnicity	Percentage	Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only	92.28%	514
Non-Hispanic Black Only	3.59%	20
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only	1.44%	8
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native	(S)%	(S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races	(S)%	(S)
Hispanic Origin	1.97%	11

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 Shiel has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

	2010	2000	Change (%)
White	92.28%	92.67%	-0.42%
Black	3.59%	3.36%	6.62%
Asian and Pacific Islander	1.44%	1.07%	29.48%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	(S)%	0.00%	(S)%
Two or More Races	(S)%	1.83%	(S)%
Hispanic	1.97%	1.07%	59.21%

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

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

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