How common is the surname Shams?

1,127 people in the United States had the surname Shams in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 273,953 Americans. It ranked 22,733rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Shams?

In the 2010 Census, 54% of people named Shams identified as white (not Hispanic), and 31% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Is the surname Shams getting more or less common?

More common. 680 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,127 in 2010, up 66%.

The surname Shams

An Arabic surname, carried by 1,127 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex S520

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shams is more common than 86% of them.

Origin

Arabic origin

Borrowed from Arabic شَمْس (šams).

One of 179 Arabic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,127 people named Shams in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 273,953 Americans. That is up 66% since 2000, when the Census counted 680.

#22,733

rank among US surnames

1,127

people in 2010

0.4

per 100,000 Americans

+65.7%

change since 2000 (was #32,026)

Who is named Shams

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

54% of people named Shams identified as white (not Hispanic), 31% as Asian and Pacific Islander and 12% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 54%
Asian and Pacific Islander 31%
Two or more races 12%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Shams

Shams has the Soundex code S520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S520.

Other Arabic surnames

All 179 Arabic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shams come from?: Borrowed from Arabic شَمْس (šams).
How common is the surname Shams?: 1,127 people in the United States had the surname Shams in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 273,953 Americans. It ranked 22,733rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shams?: In the 2010 Census, 54% of people named Shams identified as white (not Hispanic), and 31% as Asian and Pacific Islander.
Is the surname Shams getting more or less common?: More common. 680 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,127 in 2010, up 66%.