Explore the Family Name Sho

The meaning of Sho

Japanese (Shō): written 荘 ‘villa’, a shortening of the word shōen 荘園 ‘estate’; there are several ways to write it. In Okinawa, Shō 尚 is the ancient royal family’s surname.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Sho" has seen a significant increase in the United States between 2000 and 2010. Ranked at 126,400 in 2000, it jumped to 102,688 in 2010, marking an overall change of 18.76%. The count of this surname also grew from 125 to 175 during this period, indicating a 40% rise. Furthermore, the proportion of people with the surname "Sho" per 100,000 increased by 20%, moving from 0.05 to 0.06.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#126,400	#102,688	18.76%
Count	125	175	40%
Proportion per 100k	0.05	0.06	20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sho

In terms of ethnic identity, the census data shows a shift in the distribution for the surname "Sho". Predominantly associated with the Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity in 2000 (79.2%), a slight decrease to 76.57% was observed in 2010. Interestingly, there is no record of this surname associated with two or more races in 2000, but in 2010, 2.86% of the bearers identified as such. The percentage of people with this surname identifying as White showed a remarkable increase, going from 9.6% in 2000 to 16.57% in 2010. However, those identifying as Black decreased from 4% to 2.86%, while Hispanic representation disappeared entirely. The American Indian and Alaskan Native category remained constant at 0% for both years. This data is based on the Decennial U.S. Census.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	79.2%	76.57%	-3.32%
White	9.6%	16.57%	72.6%
Two or More Races	0%	2.86%	0%
Black	4%	2.86%	-28.5%
Hispanic	4%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%