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

Shope, 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 Shope surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shope in America

Shope is the 7810th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shope surname appeared 4,239 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Shope.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shope 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.

The history of the last name Shope

The surname Shope is believed to have originated in Germany, with roots tracing back to the 14th century. It is thought to have derived from the Old German word "schop," meaning a barn or a shed, suggesting that the name may have been occupational in nature, referring to someone who worked in or lived near a barn.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shope can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus, a collection of historical documents from the German state of Anhalt, dating back to the year 1349. This document mentions a certain "Heinrich Schope," indicating the presence of the surname in the region during that time.

In the 15th century, the name Shope appears in various records across different regions of Germany, including the town of Essen in the Ruhr Valley, where a "Johan Shope" is mentioned in a municipal document from 1472.

As the name spread across Europe, variations in spelling emerged, such as Schope, Schoppe, and Shoppe. These variations likely arose due to regional dialects and differences in pronunciation and transcription.

One notable individual bearing the surname Shope was Johann Schope, a German theologian and philosopher born in 1535 in Meissen, Saxony. He studied at the University of Wittenberg and later became a professor at the University of Leipzig, where he taught until his death in 1610.

Another figure of historical significance was William Shope, an American physician and virologist born in 1888 in Pennsylvania. He made significant contributions to the field of virology, particularly in the study of swine influenza and the virus that causes the Shope papilloma, a type of wart found in rabbits, which was named after him.

In the 17th century, the Shope surname found its way to the British Isles, with records indicating the presence of individuals with this name in England and Scotland. One such individual was Robert Shope, a Scottish merchant and trader who lived in the city of Glasgow in the late 1600s.

The 19th century saw the migration of many Shope families to the United States, with some settling in Pennsylvania and others in the Midwestern states. One notable American with the surname Shope was John Shope, a farmer and politician from Ohio, who served as a member of the Ohio State Senate in the 1840s.

Throughout history, the surname Shope has been associated with various occupations, from farmers and merchants to academics and professionals, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and pursuits of those who bore this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shope

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

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:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

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

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

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

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

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