Sheppard
A masculine name derived from an occupational surname meaning "shepherd" or "sheepherder".
Name Census estimates that about 517 living Americans carry the first name Sheppard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sheppard today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheppard births was 2023 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheppard. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
517
~ 1 in 662,968 Americans
Peak year
2023
38 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,374
Tracked since 1880
Census
Sheppard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 459 people with the first name Sheppard, which placed it at #21,899 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,899
National first-name rank
People counted
459
459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheppard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheppard is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sheppard described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sheppard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.9% · 339
- Black or African American17.9% · 82
- Two or more races3.7% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
Popularity
Sheppard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheppard from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 164 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sheppard by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sheppard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sheppards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, New York recorded the most babies named Sheppard, while New York, North Carolina, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheppard
The name Sheppard originates from the Old English word "sceaphierde," which means "shepherd" or "keeper of sheep." It is derived from the words "sceap" (sheep) and "hierde" (herd, guard, or keeper). The name has been in use since the early medieval period in England and was initially an occupational surname given to those who tended flocks of sheep.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land and property conducted in England in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Sceaphierde" and refers to individuals who held the occupation of shepherding.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in the form "Shepard" in various historical records and documents, such as the Curia Regis Rolls and the Pipe Rolls. During this period, the name was associated with the pastoral lifestyle prevalent in many parts of England.
The Bible contains several references to shepherds, such as the shepherds who visited the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem. However, the name Sheppard itself is not explicitly mentioned in religious scriptures.
Notable individuals who bore the name Sheppard throughout history include:
1. William Sheppard (c. 1595-1675), an English Puritan minister and co-founder of Harvard College.
2. Thomas Sheppard (1605-1659), an English politician and member of the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War.
3. Jack Sheppard (1702-1724), an infamous English thief and jail-breaker in the early 18th century, whose exploits were widely publicized and romanticized.
4. Mary Sheppard (1710-1788), an English poet and author known for her religious works.
5. William Sheppard (1737-1817), an American jurist and statesman who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress.
The name Sheppard has maintained its connection to the pastoral and agricultural traditions of England, with many individuals bearing this name historically associated with rural communities and sheep farming. Its enduring use reflects the importance of shepherding in the cultural heritage of England and the broader English-speaking world.
People
Sheppard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheppard as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sheppard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheppard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 517 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheppard going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 662,968 US residents.
Is Sheppard a common name?
We classify Sheppard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 676 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheppard most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheppard was 2023, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheppard is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheppard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 459 people with the name Sheppard, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,899 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sheppard in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sheppard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sheppard leans strongly male. 431 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 17 female bearers (3.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sheppard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheppard is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sheppard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sheppard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.9% (339 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sheppard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheppard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sheppard in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sheppard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheppard in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sheppard can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Sheppard?
See how many Americans are named Sheppard on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.