Explore the Family Name Shakes

The meaning of Shakes

English: possibly derived from Middle English shake, a word used to refer to grain fallen from the head of a cereal plant (used to feed livestock).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname "Shakes" has seen a significant increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Shakes was ranked 74,398 in terms of popularity and this increased by approximately 20.67% in 2010 to reach a ranking of 59,017. In terms of raw counts, there were 242 individuals with the last name Shakes in 2000, and this count increased by 41.74% to reach 343 individuals in 2010. The proportion of people with the surname per 100,000 people also increased from 0.09 to 0.12, a change of 33.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#74,398	#59,017	20.67%
Count	242	343	41.74%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.12	33.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shakes

In regards to ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Shakes identify as Black, with this group seeing a slight increase from 79.75% in 2000 to 82.22% in 2010. The next largest ethnic identity groups are White and Hispanic, which account for 9.62% and 4.37% of those with the surname Shakes in 2010 respectively. While the percentage of White individuals decreased by 13.80%, the Hispanic population saw an increase of 51.21%. Individuals identifying with two or more races decreased significantly from 5.79% to 2.92%. No individuals with the surname Shakes identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	79.75%	82.22%	3.1%
White	11.16%	9.62%	-13.8%
Hispanic	2.89%	4.37%	51.21%
Two or More Races	5.79%	2.92%	-49.57%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%