Explore the Family Name Shedlock

The meaning of Shedlock

English: variant of Shadlock, apparently a nickname from Middle English shathien (Old English sc(e)athian) and scathen (Old Norse skatha) ‘to harm, damage’ + lok ‘lock (of hair?)’. It may have been given to an incompetent barber or to someone with ill-kempt hair.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Shedlock saw a decreasing trend in its popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 35,239th most common name in the United States, while it fell to the 43,732nd spot by 2010, marking a significant drop of 24.1%. The total count of individuals with the Shedlock surname also declined by 18.51% over this period, from 605 to 493. Consequently, the proportion of people named Shedlock per 100,000 residents dropped by 22.73%, from 0.22 to 0.17.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#35,239	#43,732	-24.1%
Count	605	493	-18.51%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.17	-22.73%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shedlock

As for ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of individuals with the Shedlock surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 98.51% of Shedlocks were White, a figure that slightly increased to 98.78% by 2010. No Shedlocks identified as Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years. There was a minor change in 2010 when some individuals began identifying as Black, although no specific percentage is given due to data suppression for privacy reasons. No individuals reported having two or more races during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	98.51%	98.78%	0.27%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%