2000
#18,135
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,416
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.52
Rare Last name
Shippee
A variant spelling of the English occupational surname "Sheppy" for a shepherd.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,410 Americans carry the last name Shippee. That puts it at #21,625 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 243,088 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shippee 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
1.4K
1 in 243,088
Census rank
#21,625
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,230 bearers of the surname Shippee in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 21625th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shippee, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shippee
The surname SHIPPEE is of English origin, derived from an occupational name for a shepherd or someone who worked with sheep. It is thought to have emerged in the 12th century from the Old English word "scyphierd" or the Middle English "schepherde," both meaning shepherd.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1166, where it appears as "Sibrid Schepehird." Other early spellings include "Shepehurd" in the Curia Regis Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1212 and "Shephard" in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1273.
The name is also associated with various place names in England, such as Shepperton in Middlesex, which was recorded as "Scepertun" in the Domesday Book of 1086, derived from the Old English words "sceap" meaning sheep and "tun" meaning farm or settlement.
One of the earliest notable figures with the surname was Sir John Sheppey, who was a Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire in 1379. Another was William Shippey, a prominent English soldier and military engineer who served under Queen Elizabeth I in the late 16th century and played a significant role in the fortification of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
In the 17th century, Samuel Sheppard (1624-1655) was a noted English clergyman and author, known for his work "The Faithful Pastor" published in 1654. A contemporary of his, Thomas Shepard (1605-1649), was a Puritan minister who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and became one of the founders of Harvard College.
In the 19th century, William Shepard (1737-1817) was a prominent American jurist and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. Another notable figure was Thomas Shepard (1835-1904), an American military officer who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the surname SHIPPEE or its various spelling variations, reflecting its long-standing presence in both England and the United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shippee
Among Census respondents with the surname Shippee, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Shippee 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 Shippee surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 1,147
- Two or more races3.9% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 10
- Black or African American0.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shippee
Shippee 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
#18,561
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,486
+70 bearers (+4.9%)
Per 100,000 0.50
Rank movement Down 426 places
2020
#21,625
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,230
-256 bearers (-17.2%)
Per 100,000 0.41
Rank movement Down 3,064 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #18,135 | 1,416 | 0.52 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #18,561 | 1,486 | 0.50 | +70 bearers (+4.9%) | Down 426 places |
| 2020 | #21,625 | 1,230 | 0.41 | -256 bearers (-17.2%) | Down 3,064 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 Shippee 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 | #18,561 | #21,625 | -16.5% |
| Count | 1,486 | 1,230 | -17.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.50 | 0.41 | -17.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shippee bearers went from 1,486 to 1,230 (-17.2% change). The surname moved down 3,064 positions in the national ranking, going from #18,561 to #21,625.
FAQ
Shippee surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shippee?
Name Census estimates that about 1,410 living Americans carry the surname Shippee. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 243,088 residents.
How common is Shippee?
Shippee ranks #21,625 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.41 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 1,230 people with the surname Shippee. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,410), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.41 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 Shippee.
Has Shippee become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shippee went from 1,486 recorded bearers to 1,230. That is a decrease of 256 (-17.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #18,561 to #21,625.
What does the Census say about the background of Shippee?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shippee, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Shippee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (1,147 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shippee appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Two or More Races (3.9%), Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Shippee (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 Shippee mean?
A variant spelling of the English occupational surname "Sheppy" for a shepherd. 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 Shippee (0.41 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 Shippee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.