Alan Shearer
There are approximately 16 people named Alan Shearer living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 21,422,146 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Alan with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Shearer. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
16
1 in 21,422,146
Named Alan
283K
Alive today
Named Shearer
20K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 283K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1955
Average age: 51
Top Census group: White (70.8%)
Estimated bearers: 20K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #2,070
Per 100K: 5.70
Top ancestry: White (89.0%)
First name trend
Alan: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Alan. The peak year was 1955 with 9,048 births. The average person named Alan today is 51 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alan
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Alan, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 70.8%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Alan at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White70.8% · 201,774
- Hispanic or Latino18.2% · 51,710
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 14,704
- Black or African American3.4% · 9,664
- Two or more races2.0% · 5,726
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1,295
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Shearer surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Shearer, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 89.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Shearer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Shearer at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White89.0% · 15,156
- Black or African American3.5% · 588
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 565
- Two or more races3.1% · 526
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 60
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Alan has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0826% of the US population, based on 283,264 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Alan right now.
The surname Shearer appears at a rate of 5.70 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0057%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 16 people with the full name Alan Shearer. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Alan
Related
Other people with the surname Shearer
FAQ
Alan Shearer: questions and answers
How many people are named Alan Shearer?
We estimate approximately 16 people in the United States share the full name Alan Shearer. That works out to about 1 in 21,422,146 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0826%) with the surname frequency (5.70 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Alan Shearer?
We classify Alan Shearer as "Very Rare". About 1 in 21,422,146 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Alan a male or female name?
Alan is predominantly male. Out of 362,464 total SSA registrations, 99.7% were male and 0.3% were female. See the full Alan profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Alan Shearer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the name Alan Shearer is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.