Explore the Family Name Shiels

The meaning of Shiels

Scottish (Midlothian) and Irish: variant of Shields. Some characteristic forenames: Irish Aidan, Dermot.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Shiels saw a slight decrease from 2000 to 2010. The ranking in 2000 was 29,932, but by 2010 it had slipped to 31,150, a decline of 4.07%. However, the actual count of people with this surname increased slightly over the same decade, rising from 740 to 745, an increase of 0.68%. In terms of proportion per 100,000 individuals, the prevalence of the Shiels surname declined by 7.41%, going from 0.27 in 2000 to 0.25 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#29,932	#31,150	-4.07%
Count	740	745	0.68%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.25	-7.41%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shiels

When it comes to ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the ethnic identity associated with the surname Shiels changed somewhat between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as White decreased by 2.54%, going from 93.24% in 2000 to 90.87% in 2010. Meanwhile, the Hispanic population associated with this surname nearly doubled, increasing by 98.44% from 2.57% to 5.1%. The number of people identifying as Black decreased slightly from 2.97% to 2.68%, a drop of 9.76%. The percentage of those who identify with two or more races also decreased, dropping from 0.81% in 2000 to 0.67% in 2010, marking a decline of 17.28%. There were no changes in the counts for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories, with both remaining at zero.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.24%	90.87%	-2.54%
Hispanic	2.57%	5.1%	98.44%
Black	2.97%	2.68%	-9.76%
Two or More Races	0.81%	0.67%	-17.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%