Explore the Family Name Scheff

The meaning of Scheff

North German: descriptive nickname for someone with a physical deformity, from Middle Low German schēf ‘crooked’. See also Sheff.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Scheff in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Scheff has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Scheff was ranked as the 25,657th most popular surname and decreased to the 27,845th position by 2010, representing an 8.53% change in ranking. The actual count of individuals carrying the Scheff surname also dropped from 903 in 2000 to 862 in 2010, marking a 4.54% decrease. The proportion of people named Scheff per 100,000 people also fell by 12.12%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#25,657	#27,845	-8.53%
Count	903	862	-4.54%
Proportion per 100k	0.33	0.29	-12.12%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Scheff

In terms of ethnic identity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the Scheff surname is primarily associated with White ethnicity, although there have been some shifts between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 97.56% of those with the surname identified as White, dropping slightly to 95.24% in 2010. The proportion of Scheffs identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander rose from 0.78% to 1.28% over the same period, a significant increase of 64.10%. Those identifying with two or more races also saw a minor increase from 0.89% to 1.04%. Interestingly, in 2010, the Hispanic community started appearing with the Scheff name, making up 2.44% of the total, whereas it had no representation back in 2000. The percentages for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities remained constant at 0.00%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.56%	95.24%	-2.38%
Hispanic	0%	2.44%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.78%	1.28%	64.1%
Two or More Races	0.89%	1.04%	16.85%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%