How common is the surname Schaffer?

20,614 people in the United States had the surname Schaffer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,977 Americans. It ranked 1,738th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Schaffer?

Akiva Schaffer, American comedy writer, actor and film director, followed by Ine Schäffer.

Where is the surname Schaffer most common?

Wikidata records people named Schaffer in the United States and Austria.

Is the surname Schaffer getting more or less common?

More common. 20,117 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,614 in 2010, up 2.5%.

The surname Schaffer

A surname, carried by 20,614 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex S160

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Schaffer is more common than 98.9% of them.

Origin

A surname, variant of Schaefer.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 20,614 people named Schaffer in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 14,977 Americans. That is up 2.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 20,117.

#1,738

rank among US surnames

20,614

people in 2010

7.0

per 100,000 Americans

+2.5%

change since 2000 (was #1,630)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,729	Maurer	20,707	14,910
#1,730	Kearney	20,706	14,911
#1,731	Cummins	20,705	14,912
#1,732	Milton	20,703	14,913
#1,734	Timmons	20,671	14,936
#1,735	Palma	20,636	14,962
#1,736	Escalante	20,626	14,969

Who is named Schaffer

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

93% of people named Schaffer identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
Two or more races 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Schaffers

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Akiva Schaffer
American comedy writer, actor and film director, born 1977
Ine Schäffer
Athletics competitor (1923–2009)
Bob Schaffer
American politician, born 1962

Notable Schaffers come mostly from the United States (2) and Austria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Schaffer

Schaffer has the Soundex code S160, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S160.

Questions

How common is the surname Schaffer?: 20,614 people in the United States had the surname Schaffer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,977 Americans. It ranked 1,738th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Schaffer?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Schaffer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Schaffer?: Akiva Schaffer, American comedy writer, actor and film director, followed by Ine Schäffer.
Where is the surname Schaffer most common?: Wikidata records people named Schaffer in the United States and Austria.
Is the surname Schaffer getting more or less common?: More common. 20,117 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,614 in 2010, up 2.5%.