Explore the Family Name Shier

The meaning of Shier

1. English (Sussex): variant of Shire or Shear. 2. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a Talmudic teacher, from Yiddish shier ‘lesson of the Talmud’. 3. Americanized form of German Schier.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Shier has seen some fluctuation in its popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 19,587th in popularity in the United States, but by 2010, it had slipped to a ranking of 20,125. This represents a decrease of approximately 2.75% over that decade. However, despite this drop in ranking, the actual count of people with the Shier surname increased by 4.16% during the same period, from 1,274 to 1,327. The proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 population also slightly decreased by 4.26%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#19,587	#20,125	-2.75%
Count	1,274	1,327	4.16%
Proportion per 100k	0.47	0.45	-4.26%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shier

The data from the Decennial U.S. Census also provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Shier. From 2000 to 2010, the largest group identified as White, accounting for about 91.86% in 2010, a minor decrease from 91.99% in 2000. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased over the decade, while the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic increased notably by 44.09%. Of particular note is the significant increase in individuals identifying with two or more races, which surged by 130.77% over the specified period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.99%	91.86%	-0.14%
Hispanic	2.2%	3.17%	44.09%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.61%	2.94%	-18.56%
Two or More Races	0.39%	0.9%	130.77%
Black	1.26%	0.75%	-40.48%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.55%	0.38%	-30.91%