2000
#1,040
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 30,756
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.40
Uncommon Last name
Shoemaker
An occupational surname referring to a person who makes or repairs shoes.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 33,722 Americans carry the last name Shoemaker. That puts it at #1,178 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 9.84 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 10,164 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shoemaker 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
34K
1 in 10,164
Census rank
#1,178
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
9.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
29K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 29,407 bearers of the surname Shoemaker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 9.84 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1178th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shoemaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shoemaker
The surname SHOEMAKER is an occupational surname that originated in England during the medieval period. It derives from the Old English words "scoe" meaning shoe and "maker" meaning maker or creator. The name refers to an individual whose occupation was making shoes, which was a vital trade during those times.
In the early days, SHOEMAKER was often spelled differently, such as SHOEMAKER, SHOEMAKER, or SHOOMAKER, reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation of the time. The name first appeared in historical records in the late 13th century, with one of the earliest known references being in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, where a William le Shoemaker was mentioned.
The SHOEMAKER surname was particularly prominent in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk, where many families with this occupation lived and worked. One notable early bearer of the name was John Shoemaker, a shoemaker from London who was mentioned in the city's records in 1375.
As time passed, the SHOEMAKER surname spread across England and eventually to other parts of the British Isles and beyond. In the late 16th century, a SHOEMAKER family settled in the town of Germantown, Pennsylvania, in the American colonies, becoming one of the earliest bearers of the name in the New World.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the SHOEMAKER surname. One of the earliest was Sir Roger Shoemaker, a prominent English merchant and member of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, who lived in the 15th century. Another was Benjamin Shoemaker (1672-1737), a Quaker leader and early settler in Pennsylvania who played a significant role in the development of the colony.
Other notable SHOEMAKERS include Joseph Shoemaker (1819-1886), an American Civil War general; Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963), an influential American Episcopal priest and writer; and Henry W. Shoemaker (1880-1958), an American businessman and politician who served as the United States Secretary of War from 1921 to 1924.
The SHOEMAKER surname has a rich history deeply rooted in the ancient craft of shoemaking, and its bearers have left their mark across various fields throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shoemaker
Among Census respondents with the surname Shoemaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Shoemaker 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 Shoemaker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.5% · 26,613
- Two or more races3.4% · 1,009
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 807
- Black or African American2.2% · 661
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 178
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 139
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shoemaker
Shoemaker 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
#1,133
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 30,934
+178 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 10.49
Rank movement Down 93 places
2020
#1,178
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 29,407
-1,527 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 9.84
Rank movement Down 45 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,040 | 30,756 | 11.40 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,133 | 30,934 | 10.49 | +178 bearers (+0.6%) | Down 93 places |
| 2020 | #1,178 | 29,407 | 9.84 | -1,527 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 45 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 Shoemaker 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 | #1,133 | #1,178 | -4.0% |
| Count | 30,934 | 29,407 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 10.49 | 9.84 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shoemaker bearers went from 30,934 to 29,407 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 45 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,133 to #1,178.
FAQ
Shoemaker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shoemaker?
Name Census estimates that about 33,722 living Americans carry the surname Shoemaker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 10,164 residents.
How common is Shoemaker?
Shoemaker ranks #1,178 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 9.84 per 100,000 residents, which is about 10 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 29,407 people with the surname Shoemaker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (33,722), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 9.84 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 9.84 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 10 of them to have the surname Shoemaker.
Has Shoemaker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shoemaker went from 30,934 recorded bearers to 29,407. That is a decrease of 1,527 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,133 to #1,178.
What does the Census say about the background of Shoemaker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shoemaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (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 Shoemaker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (26,613 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shoemaker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.5%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (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 Shoemaker (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 Shoemaker mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who makes or repairs shoes. 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 Shoemaker (9.84 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 have the last name Shoemaker?
Want to know how many people are called Shoemaker? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.