How common is the surname Shakespeare?

1,275 people in the United States had the surname Shakespeare in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 242,153 Americans. It ranked 20,739th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Shakespeare?

Frank Shakespeare, American rower, followed by Frank J. Shakespeare.

Where is the surname Shakespeare most common?

Wikidata records people named Shakespeare in the United States.

How do you pronounce Shakespeare?

Shakespeare is /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Shakespeare getting more or less common?

More common. 1,069 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,275 in 2010, up 19%.

What are other spellings of Shakespeare?

Shakespere, Shakspeare and Shakspere.

The surname Shakespeare

An English surname, carried by 1,275 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/ 2 syllables Soundex S221

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shakespeare is more common than 87.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,275 people named Shakespeare in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 242,153 Americans. That is up 19% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,069.

#20,739

rank among US surnames

1,275

people in 2010

0.4

per 100,000 Americans

+19.3%

change since 2000 (was #22,461)

Who is named Shakespeare

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

57% of people named Shakespeare identified as white (not Hispanic), 30% as Black (not Hispanic) and 7.5% as American Indian and Alaska Native.

White (not Hispanic) 57%
Black (not Hispanic) 30%
American Indian and Alaska Native 7.5%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Shakespeares

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Frank Shakespeare
American rower, born 1930
Frank J. Shakespeare
American businessman and diplomat (1925–2022)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Shakespere
Shakspeare
Shakspere

Shakespeare has the Soundex code S221, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S221.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shakespeare come from?: A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.
How common is the surname Shakespeare?: 1,275 people in the United States had the surname Shakespeare in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 242,153 Americans. It ranked 20,739th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shakespeare?: In the 2010 Census, 57% of people named Shakespeare identified as white (not Hispanic), and 30% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Shakespeare?: Frank Shakespeare, American rower, followed by Frank J. Shakespeare.
Where is the surname Shakespeare most common?: Wikidata records people named Shakespeare in the United States.
How do you pronounce Shakespeare?: Shakespeare is /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Shakespeare getting more or less common?: More common. 1,069 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,275 in 2010, up 19%.
What are other spellings of Shakespeare?: Shakespere, Shakspeare and Shakspere.