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

Shor, 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 Shor surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shor in America

Shor is the 25459th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shor surname appeared 971 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Shor.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shor 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 Shor

The surname SHOR has its origins in the Old Norse language and is believed to have first emerged in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. It is derived from the Old Norse word "skor," which means a wooded area or a small forest.

The name SHOR is thought to have initially been a descriptive surname given to someone who lived near a wooded area or a small forest. It is possible that the earliest bearers of this name were woodsmen or foresters who lived and worked in such areas.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SHOR can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Svein Shor, who held lands in Lincolnshire.

In the 13th century, a prominent figure named Thorvald Shor was a Norwegian chieftain and warrior who participated in the Norwegian Crusade to the Holy Land in 1107-1108. His name is mentioned in several Icelandic sagas and chronicles from that period.

During the Middle Ages, the SHOR surname spread across Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe. In the 14th century, a notable figure named Jens Shor was a Danish merchant and ship owner who traded extensively with the Hanseatic League cities in the Baltic region.

In the 16th century, the name SHOR appeared in Scotland, likely due to the influence of Norse settlers in the region. One of the earliest recorded Scottish bearers of the name was Robert Shor, who was born in Aberdeen in 1532 and was a prominent merchant and landowner.

Another notable figure with the surname SHOR was Johan Shor, a Swedish military officer and engineer who lived in the 17th century. He was involved in the construction of several fortifications and defenses during the Kalmar War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway.

As the surname SHOR spread across different regions, various spelling variations emerged, such as Shoer, Shorer, and Shorr. However, the core meaning and origin of the name remained rooted in its Old Norse origins, reflecting the connection to wooded areas and forestry.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shor

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

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

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

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