Explore the Family Name Shoulders

The meaning of Shoulders

English (Sussex): variant of Shoulder, with plural or post-medieval excrescent -s.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Shoulders" has seen a modest decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname was ranked 11,273rd in terms of frequency among all surnames in the United States, but by 2010 it had slipped to 11,472nd, reflecting a decline of 1.77%. However, the actual number of individuals bearing the surname "Shoulders" increased from 2,574 to 2,744 during that period, representing a growth of 6.6%. Despite this numerical increase, the proportion per 100,000 US residents with this last name slightly decreased from 0.95 to 0.93, marking a 2.11% drop.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,273	#11,472	-1.77%
Count	2,574	2,744	6.6%
Proportion per 100k	0.95	0.93	-2.11%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shoulders

The ethnic identity associated with the surname "Shoulders" underwent some shifts between 2000 and 2010, as reflected in the Decennial U.S. Census data. The largest group identifying as "Shoulders" remains White, though the proportion fell from 58.82% to 55.39%, a decrease of 5.83%. The second most prevalent ethnicity is Black, which saw an increase from 35.94% to 39.50%. Representation within the Asian/Pacific Islander category witnessed a significant reduction of 29.03%, dropping from 0.31% to 0.22%. Individuals claiming two or more races increased by 7.77%, moving from 2.06% to 2.22%. Both Hispanic and American Indian/Alaskan Native categories saw decreases of 11.43% and 4.05% respectively.

	2000	2010	Change
White	58.82%	55.39%	-5.83%
Black	35.94%	39.5%	9.91%
Two or More Races	2.06%	2.22%	7.77%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.48%	1.42%	-4.05%
Hispanic	1.4%	1.24%	-11.43%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.31%	0.22%	-29.03%