2000
#2,235
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,917
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.53
Uncommon Last name
Shipman
An occupational surname referring to a sailor, mariner, or one who works on or owns ships.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 16,672 Americans carry the last name Shipman. That puts it at #2,431 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 20,559 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shipman 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 Shipman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
17K
1 in 20,559
Census rank
#2,431
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
15K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 14,539 bearers of the surname Shipman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2431st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shipman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shipman
The surname Shipman is of English origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is an occupational name derived from the Old English words "scip" meaning ship and "mann" meaning man, referring to a person who worked on ships, possibly as a sailor or shipbuilder.
The earliest recorded instance of the surname Shipman appears in the Hundredorum Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where it is listed as Schipman. During the medieval period, variations of the spelling included Shippman, Shipeman, and Schypman.
The name is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which records several place names containing the element "ship," such as Shipley in Yorkshire and Shiplake in Oxfordshire, suggesting that the surname may have originated from these locations.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Shipman, born around 1350 in Wiltshire. He was a merchant and ship owner who played a significant role in the wool trade between England and the Low Countries.
Another notable figure was Sir Abraham Shipman (c. 1566-1643), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1619. He was heavily involved in the East India Company and the Virginia Company.
In the 17th century, Edward Shipman (1616-1681) was a prominent Puritan minister in New England, known for his involvement in the Salem Witch Trials. He served as a minister in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts.
The surname Shipman also has connections to the British Royal Navy. Admiral Sir Richmond Shipman (1778-1837) was a distinguished naval officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and was later appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Abraham Shipman (1662-1738), a British lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1727 to 1730.
While the surname Shipman originated in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America, Australia, and New Zealand, largely due to immigration patterns.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shipman
Among Census respondents with the surname Shipman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Shipman 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 Shipman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.6% · 11,132
- Black or African American14.3% · 2,082
- Two or more races4.3% · 627
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 461
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 97
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shipman
Shipman 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
#2,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,581
+664 bearers (+4.5%)
Per 100,000 5.28
Rank movement Down 104 places
2020
#2,431
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,539
-1,042 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 4.86
Rank movement Down 92 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,235 | 14,917 | 5.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,339 | 15,581 | 5.28 | +664 bearers (+4.5%) | Down 104 places |
| 2020 | #2,431 | 14,539 | 4.86 | -1,042 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 92 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 Shipman 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 | #2,339 | #2,431 | -3.9% |
| Count | 15,581 | 14,539 | -6.7% |
| Per 100K | 5.28 | 4.86 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shipman bearers went from 15,581 to 14,539 (-6.7% change). The surname moved down 92 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,339 to #2,431.
FAQ
Shipman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shipman?
Name Census estimates that about 16,672 living Americans carry the surname Shipman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 20,559 residents.
How common is Shipman?
Shipman ranks #2,431 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.86 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 14,539 people with the surname Shipman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (16,672), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.86 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Shipman.
Has Shipman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shipman went from 15,581 recorded bearers to 14,539. That is a decrease of 1,042 (-6.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,339 to #2,431.
What does the Census say about the background of Shipman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shipman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Shipman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.6% (11,132 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shipman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.6%), Black (14.3%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Shipman (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 Shipman mean?
An occupational surname referring to a sailor, mariner, or one who works on or owns ships. 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 Shipman (4.86 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 share the surname Shipman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.