Explore the Family Name Shearn

The meaning of Shearn

English (Somerset): apparently a nickname from a regional form of Middle English sharn ‘dung’, but it may be a post-medieval shortened form of Sherrin.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Shearn saw a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 31,426 in terms of frequency but dropped to 34,916 by 2010, a decline of 11.11%. In terms of raw counts, there were 697 individuals with the surname Shearn in 2000, which declined to 646 in 2010 - a drop of 7.32%. The proportion of people with the surname Shearn per 100,000 also decreased by 15.38%, going from 0.26 in 2000 to 0.22 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#31,426	#34,916	-11.11%
Count	697	646	-7.32%
Proportion per 100k	0.26	0.22	-15.38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shearn

The ethnicity of individuals with the surname Shearn also saw some changes between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at zero for both years. Those identifying with two or more ethnicities saw a slight decrease from 1.29% to 1.24%, a change of -3.88%. White individuals made up the majority of the Shearn surname holders, although their percentage dipped slightly from 80.20% in 2000 to 78.02% in 2010. Conversely, the proportion of individuals with Hispanic ethnicity increased significantly from 1.29% in 2000 to 3.72% in 2010, an increase of 188.37%. The proportion of Black individuals with the surname Shearn slightly decreased from 17.07% in 2000 to 16.41% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.2%	78.02%	-2.72%
Black	17.07%	16.41%	-3.87%
Hispanic	1.29%	3.72%	188.37%
Two or More Races	1.29%	1.24%	-3.88%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%