2000
#4,742
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,836
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.53
Rare Last name
Shrader
An occupational surname for a tailor or cutter of cloth, derived from the German word "schrader" meaning "cloth cutter."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,406 Americans carry the last name Shrader. That puts it at #5,223 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 46,281 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shrader 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
7.4K
1 in 46,281
Census rank
#5,223
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,458 bearers of the surname Shrader in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5223rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shrader, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shrader
The surname Shrader originated in Germany and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old High German word "schroten," which means "to cut" or "to shred." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational name for a woodcutter or a lumberjack.
The earliest known record of the name Shrader can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the year 1195. In this document, a man named Henricus Schroder is mentioned as a landowner in the town of Quedlinburg.
As the name spread across Germany, it took on various spellings such as Schrader, Schroder, and Schröder. One of the earliest recorded instances of the spelling "Shrader" can be found in the church records of the town of Büdingen in Hesse, which mentions a Johann Shrader who was born in 1624.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many Germans emigrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas, and the name Shrader traveled with them. One notable bearer of the name was Johann Shrader (1771-1840), a German botanist and naturalist who published several works on the flora of Germany and the surrounding regions.
Another prominent individual with the surname Shrader was Friedrich Shrader (1759-1835), a German composer and music theorist who served as the court musician to the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His compositions included operas, symphonies, and chamber works.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shrader can be found in the records of the Pennsylvania Dutch community, where a Johann Shrader settled in the late 17th century after emigrating from the Palatinate region of Germany.
Over the centuries, the Shrader name has been associated with various place names, such as Schradermühle (Shrader's Mill) in Lower Saxony, Germany, and Schraderwalde (Shrader's Forest) in Hesse, Germany.
Other notable individuals with the surname Shrader include Johann Shrader (1738-1803), a German theologian and author of several religious texts, and Wilhelm Shrader (1854-1926), a German chemist and inventor who developed several important industrial processes.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shrader
Among Census respondents with the surname Shrader, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Shrader 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 Shrader surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.6% · 5,916
- Two or more races3.8% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 188
- Black or African American0.7% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 33
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shrader
Shrader 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
#5,109
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,855
+19 bearers (+0.3%)
Per 100,000 2.32
Rank movement Down 367 places
2020
#5,223
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,458
-397 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 2.16
Rank movement Down 114 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,742 | 6,836 | 2.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,109 | 6,855 | 2.32 | +19 bearers (+0.3%) | Down 367 places |
| 2020 | #5,223 | 6,458 | 2.16 | -397 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 114 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 Shrader 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 | #5,109 | #5,223 | -2.2% |
| Count | 6,855 | 6,458 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.32 | 2.16 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shrader bearers went from 6,855 to 6,458 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 114 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,109 to #5,223.
FAQ
Shrader surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shrader?
Name Census estimates that about 7,406 living Americans carry the surname Shrader. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 46,281 residents.
How common is Shrader?
Shrader ranks #5,223 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.16 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,458 people with the surname Shrader. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,406), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.16 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Shrader.
Has Shrader become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shrader went from 6,855 recorded bearers to 6,458. That is a decrease of 397 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,109 to #5,223.
What does the Census say about the background of Shrader?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shrader, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Shrader in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.6% (5,916 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shrader appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.6%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Shrader (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 Shrader mean?
An occupational surname for a tailor or cutter of cloth, derived from the German word "schrader" meaning "cloth cutter." 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 Shrader (2.16 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 common is the surname Shrader?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Shrader at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.