2000
#139,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Shugarman
A Jewish surname derived from the Yiddish word for a confectioner or dealer in sugar.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Shugarman. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shugarman 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Shugarman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shugarman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shugarman
The surname Shugarman is of Ashkenazic Jewish origin, originating from the Yiddish language spoken by Jews in Eastern Europe. It is a variation of the German surname Zuckermann, which translates to "sugar man" or "confectioner."
The name likely emerged in the late Middle Ages or early modern period, when many Jewish families adopted occupational surnames based on their trades or professions. The earliest recorded instances of the Shugarman surname can be found in census records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in Poland, Ukraine, and other parts of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Shugarman surname is often associated with the city of Krakow, Poland, which had a thriving Jewish community and a long tradition of sugar production and confectionery. Some of the earliest known bearers of the name may have been involved in the sugar trade or worked as confectioners in this region.
One notable early figure with the Shugarman surname was Rabbi Yitzchak Shugarman (c. 1570-1640), a renowned Talmudic scholar and author from Krakow. His works, including commentaries on the Talmud and Jewish law, were widely studied and influential in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.
In the 18th century, the Shugarman family spread across various parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. Notable individuals from this period include Chaim Shugarman (1726-1801), a successful merchant and philanthropist in Warsaw, and Leah Shugarman (1760-1825), a prominent educator and founder of one of the first modern Jewish schools for girls in Vilnius.
As the Jewish population dispersed throughout Europe and later immigrated to the Americas, the Shugarman surname became more widespread. Prominent bearers of the name in the 19th and early 20th centuries include Isaac Shugarman (1836-1911), a pioneering Zionist leader and advocate for Jewish settlement in Palestine, and Esther Shugarman (1880-1945), a renowned Yiddish writer and feminist activist from New York City.
Throughout its history, the Shugarman surname has been associated with a wide range of occupations, from confectioners and merchants to scholars, writers, and community leaders. While the name's origins can be traced back to the sugar trade in Eastern Europe, it has become a distinctive and enduring part of the Jewish cultural heritage.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shugarman
Among Census respondents with the surname Shugarman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Shugarman 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 Shugarman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 3
- Two or more races1.9% · 2
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shugarman
Shugarman 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
+6 bearers (+5.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,392 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-13 bearers (-11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 11,033 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #139,757 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.5%) | Down 3,392 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -13 bearers (-11.2%) | Down 11,033 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 Shugarman 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 | #143,149 | #154,182 | -7.7% |
| Count | 116 | 103 | -11.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shugarman bearers went from 116 to 103 (-11.2% change). The surname moved down 11,033 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #154,182.
FAQ
Shugarman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shugarman?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Shugarman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Shugarman?
Shugarman ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Shugarman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Shugarman.
Has Shugarman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shugarman went from 116 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 13 (-11.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Shugarman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shugarman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Shugarman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shugarman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.2%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Shugarman (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 Shugarman mean?
A Jewish surname derived from the Yiddish word for a confectioner or dealer in sugar. 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 Shugarman (0.03 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 Americans have the surname Shugarman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.