Explore the Family Name Shiro

The meaning of Shiro

Japanese: written 城 ‘castle’. It is another pronunciation of the character for the surname Jō (see Jo). Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Joji, Kiyo, Mamoru, Naoki, Setsuko.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Shiro saw a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Shiro was ranked 88,083 and by 2010, it had dropped to 107,134, marking a decline of 21.63%. The count of people with the surname also decreased from 196 to 166 during this time period, a drop of 15.31%. The proportion of the population with the Shiro surname per 100k individuals fell from 0.07 to 0.06, indicating a decline of 14.29%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#88,083	#107,134	-21.63%
Count	196	166	-15.31%
Proportion per 100k	0.07	0.06	-14.29%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shiro

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Shiro. In 2000, the majority of people with the Shiro surname identified as White (67.86%), but by 2010, this percentage had fallen to 53.61%, a decrease of 21%. During the same time period, the proportion of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 21.94% to 27.71%. The percentage of those identifying as two or more races saw a significant increase, jumping from 2.55% in 2000 to 6.63% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a new emergence of Hispanic identification in 2010, while the Black identity disappeared from the Shiro surname holders. No individual with the Shiro surname identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	67.86%	53.61%	-21%
Asian/Pacific Islander	21.94%	27.71%	26.3%
Two or More Races	2.55%	6.63%	160%
Hispanic	0%	6.63%	0%
Black	3.57%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%