# Shields (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/shields/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 50,832 |
| US rank (2010) | 672 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,074 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.6% (49,556 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Sheils, Shiel |

## Who carries it

Share of people named Shields in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 76% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Shields in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Shields

- Willow Shields, American actress
- Carol Shields, American/Canadian author
- Claressa Shields, American boxer
- Frank Shields, American tennis player and actor (1909-1975)
- Tom Shields, American swimmer
- Lawrence Shields, athletics competitor (1895–1976)
- Jake Shields, American mixed martial artist (born 1979)
- Aruna Shields, British actress
- Ernest Shields, American actor (1884-1944)
- John K. Shields, American politician (1858-1934)
- James Shields, baseball player from the United States
- Savvy Shields, American beauty pageant winner

and 6 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Schultz, Shultz, Sledge, Saltzman, Seltzer, Shults, Soltis, Schultheis, Schultze, Schiltz, Saltsman, Saltz.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.