2010
#160,975
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Shortway
A topographic surname denoting someone who lived along a short path or route.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 125 Americans carry the last name Shortway. That puts it at #150,205 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,742,035 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shortway 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
125
1 in 2,742,035
Census rank
#150,205
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
109
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 109 bearers of the surname Shortway in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150205th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shortway, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shortway
The surname SHORTWAY is believed to have originated in England during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is likely derived from an Old English or Anglo-Saxon phrase referring to a person who lived along a short path or roadway, possibly near a village or town.
The earliest known recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the county of Yorkshire, where variations such as "Shortwaye" and "Shorteweye" appear in tax records and property deeds from the 1300s. It is possible that the name may have arisen independently in multiple locations across England, as surnames often developed from descriptive nicknames or occupations.
One notable mention of the name occurs in the Wakefield Court Rolls of 1379, which document a legal dispute involving a man named John Shorteweye. This provides evidence that the name was in use by the late 14th century, likely as a descriptive identifier for an individual or family residing along a particular short pathway or road.
In the 16th century, the surname appears in various parish records across Yorkshire and neighboring counties, including the baptismal record of William Shortway in 1583 in the village of Bradfield, near Sheffield. During this period, the spelling of the name began to standardize more closely to the modern form of "SHORTWAY".
Among the earliest documented individuals with this surname was Robert Shortway, born in 1612 in the village of Ripley, Yorkshire. He later served as a captain in the Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War of the 1640s.
Other notable individuals throughout history include:
1. Elizabeth Shortway (c. 1675-1742), a renowned embroiderer and textile artist from Nottinghamshire, whose intricate works were highly sought after by the nobility of the time.
2. John Shortway (1718-1792), a prominent merchant and landowner in Bristol, who played a role in the city's thriving trade with the American colonies in the 18th century.
3. William Shortway (1804-1881), a pioneering engineer and inventor from Lancashire, who patented several innovations in textile machinery that revolutionized the industrial weaving process.
4. Mary Ann Shortway (1832-1918), a dedicated educator and advocate for women's rights, who founded one of the first girls' schools in the city of Leeds in the late 19th century.
5. Sir Arthur Shortway (1867-1943), a distinguished British diplomat who served as ambassador to several European countries in the early 20th century and played a pivotal role in negotiations during the years leading up to World War I.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shortway
Among Census respondents with the surname Shortway, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Shortway 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 Shortway surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.3% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shortway
Shortway appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#150,205
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
+9 bearers (+9.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 10,770 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #160,975 | 100 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #150,205 | 109 | 0.04 | +9 bearers (+9.0%) | Up 10,770 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 Shortway 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 | #160,975 | #150,205 | 6.7% |
| Count | 100 | 109 | 9.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 21.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shortway bearers went from 100 to 109 (+9.0% change). The surname moved up 10,770 positions in the national ranking, going from #160,975 to #150,205.
FAQ
Shortway surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shortway?
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the surname Shortway. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,742,035 residents.
How common is Shortway?
Shortway ranks #150,205 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 109 people with the surname Shortway. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (125), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Shortway.
Has Shortway become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shortway went from 100 recorded bearers to 109. That is an increase of 9 (+9.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #160,975 to #150,205.
What does the Census say about the background of Shortway?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shortway, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Shortway in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shortway appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.3%), Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Shortway (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 Shortway mean?
A topographic surname denoting someone who lived along a short path or route. 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 Shortway (0.04 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 Shortway?
Want to know how common the surname Shortway is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.