2000
#125,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 126
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Shiffrin
A surname derived from the German word for "boatman" or "sailor".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Shiffrin. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shiffrin 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.
Bearers in the US
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Shiffrin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shiffrin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Black (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shiffrin
The surname SHIFFRIN is of Eastern European Jewish origin, specifically from the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, which included parts of modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania. It likely emerged in the late 18th or early 19th century.
The name SHIFFRIN may have derived from the Yiddish word "shifer," meaning a slate or tile worker, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name were involved in the slate or tile trade. Alternatively, it could have been an occupational surname related to the German word "Schiffer," meaning a boatman or sailor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the SHIFFRIN name appears in the revision lists of the Russian Empire from the early 19th century, where families with this surname were documented in various shtetls (small Jewish towns) across the Pale of Settlement.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Eastern European Jews, including those with the SHIFFRIN surname, immigrated to the United States and other parts of the world to escape persecution and seek better opportunities. Notable individuals with the SHIFFRIN surname include:
1. Mikey Shiffrin (1903-1988), a Jewish-American boxer from New York City who fought in the lightweight and welterweight divisions in the 1920s and 1930s.
2. Boris Shiffrin (1920-2007), a Russian-American physicist and professor at Syracuse University, known for his contributions to the field of solid-state physics.
3. Eileen Shiffrin (1927-2020), an American author and journalist who wrote several books on topics related to women's rights and social issues.
4. Leonid Shiffrin (born 1949), a Russian-American mathematician and professor at the University of Georgia, known for his work in probability theory and stochastic processes.
5. Mikaela Shiffrin (born 1995), an American alpine ski racer and two-time Olympic gold medalist, widely considered one of the greatest skiers of all time.
While the SHIFFRIN name has its roots in Eastern Europe, it has since spread to various parts of the world, carried by descendants of those who emigrated from the Pale of Settlement in search of better lives and opportunities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shiffrin
Among Census respondents with the surname Shiffrin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Black (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Shiffrin 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 Shiffrin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.5% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 7
- Black or African American2.7% · 3
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shiffrin
Shiffrin 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
#149,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-16 bearers (-12.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 23,756 places
2020
#147,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+3 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,174 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #125,639 | 126 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #149,395 | 110 | 0.04 | -16 bearers (-12.7%) | Down 23,756 places |
| 2020 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.7%) | Up 2,174 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 Shiffrin 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 | #149,395 | #147,221 | 1.5% |
| Count | 110 | 113 | 2.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shiffrin bearers went from 110 to 113 (+2.7% change). The surname moved up 2,174 positions in the national ranking, going from #149,395 to #147,221.
FAQ
Shiffrin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shiffrin?
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Shiffrin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
How common is Shiffrin?
Shiffrin ranks #147,221 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 113 people with the surname Shiffrin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Shiffrin.
Has Shiffrin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shiffrin went from 110 recorded bearers to 113. That is an increase of 3 (+2.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #149,395 to #147,221.
What does the Census say about the background of Shiffrin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shiffrin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Shiffrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shiffrin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.5%), Hispanic (6.2%), Black (2.7%). 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 Shiffrin (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 Shiffrin mean?
A surname derived from the German word for "boatman" or "sailor". 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 Shiffrin (0.04 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 many people are called Shiffrin?
See how common the surname Shiffrin is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.