Shearer is used as a family name or surname in Ireland, England. It is 7 characters long in length.

Family Name / Last Name: Shearer
No. of characters: 7
Origin: Ireland, England
Meaning:

In Scotland, a reaper; in England, one who shears sheep.

Family name Shearer is a variant of Kirkpatrick. Parishes in the shires of Kireudbright and Dumfries.

Lastname Shearer is a variant of Fitch. A polecat - perhaps the sign adopted bt some medival furrier. It may however be a corruption of Fitz. Hundred Rolls Fitche.

Lastname Shearer is the form of the Kilpatrick. Of St. Patrick's church where Kil means "a cell or church".

One who reaped standing crops; one who removed the fleece from animals.

Surname Shearer is variant form of the Kirkpatrick. One who came from Kirkpatrick meaning "church of St. Patrick," the name of several places in Scotland.

Shearer is a form of Fitch. One who came from Fitz, i.e., Fita's spur of land, in Shropshire; dweller at the sign of the fitch, the European polecat; one with the chracteristics of a polecat.

A variant of Fickett. Descendant of little Fech meaning "fated to die".

Variation of Fitzpatrick. The son of Patrick meaning "noble or patrician".

The variation of the Kilpatrick. Son of the servant of St. Patrick.

Shearer is the form of Fitz. Occurs at the present day as a surname without any addition. This is probably local, from the parish of Fitz in Shropshire; or it may be the Norman-French, Le Fitz, "the Son"-like Cousin, Frère, Brother, etc. Fiz. Hundred Rolls.

A Norman-French prefix, signifying son, being a corruption of the Latin filius. Many of the names which occur in Domesday Book with filius and the father's name in the genitive case, become Fitz in later records. Like AP among the Welsh, and MAC among the Scotch, the Fitz prefixed to the father's name was the only surname in use in many noble families, thus: 1. Bardolf; 2. Akaris Fitz-Bardolf; 3. Hervey Fitz Akaris; 4. Henry Fitz-Hervey; 5. Randolph Fitz - Henry, and so on, down to the time of Edward III. This succession is found in the family known as Fitz Hugh, which then became their per manent surname. In general, however, this patronymical methodwas disused at an earlier period. Camden informs us that "King Edward the First, disliking the iteration of Fitz, commanded the Lord John Fitz-Robert, an ancient baron (whose ancestors had continued their surnames by their fathers' Christian names) to leave that manner, and be called John of Clavering, which was the capital seat of his Barony. And in this time many that had followed this course of naming by Fitz, took them one set tled name and retained it." The origin of the word Fitz, which has so much puzzled some Antiquaries, is this: in contracting the word filius, our old scribes drew a stroke across the 'l,' to denote the omission of the following ‘i,' and thus assimilated it in form to the letter ót. 'The character 'z' is the usual contraction of 'us.' Thus the word looked like "fitz," and came to be so pronounced.

Shearer is variation of the Kilpatrick. A parish in Stirlingshire and Dumbartonshire.

The lastname Shearer is variant of Sherer. See Shearer, and Shearman - In Scotland, a reaper; in England, one who shears sheep.

How popular is Shearer?

Shearer is common in United States, Scotland, England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Jamaica.

Shearer is ranked 13992 on our list.

Despite the fact that the number of Shearer bearers increased by 0.92 per cent in 2010 US census to 17707 since 2000, the surname slipped by 155 spots and ranked at 2033. The last name was found in around 6 per hundred thousand population. Please refer to following table for race and ethnicity.

Race 2010 2000
White 91.71 93.18
Black 3.48 3.29
Hispanic or Latino 2.23 1.32
Others 1.48 1.2
Asian and Native Hawaiian
& Other Pacific Islander		 0.7 0.6
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41 0.4
Shearer is quite popular family name mostly used in United States while Scotland is ahead in terms of density. Around 39824 people have been found who wears Shearer as their family name. Shearer is used widely across the globe. More detailed information can be found below:
RankCountryCount
Countries with ten thousands of Shearer:
1,878 United States24,248
Countries with thousands of Shearer:
263 Scotland3,621
2,269 England3,595
1,219 Australia3,275
2,220 Canada2,442
609 New Zealand1,183
Countries with hundreds of Shearer:
15,925 South Africa393
1,208 Northern Ireland269
1,661 Jamaica157
Countries with low frequency i.e., 50 - 100:
3,474 Ireland100
3,495 Wales88
552 Bahamas68
Countries with very low frequency i.e., 10 - 50:
20,390 Israel40
137,699 Germany28
153,425 Philippines27
95,340 Argentina23
32,003 Sweden22
209,042 France21
315,217 Thailand20
13,856 Singapore17
70,664 Malaysia17
25,221 United Arab Emirates13
1,718 Jersey12
Countries with very very low frequency i.e., 6 - 10:
350,626 Brazil10
32,607 Saudi Arabia9
47,258 Norway8
23,377 Ecuador7
555,748 Indonesia6
101,176 Netherlands6
3,169 Isle of Man6
Show Full Last Name Distribution

Immigrants to US

From Ireland

Upholsterer John-D. Shearer from Great Britain aboard the Erin Go Brough from Glasgow during the Irish famine. He is registered to be 20 years old when he arrived in USA on November 7, 1848. Alexr. Shearer (25) Grinder, Jane Shearer (25) Immigrant, Elizabeth Shearer, aged 3, Mary Shearer (6 months old) Infant, Immigrant Mary-Anne Shearer, John Shearer, aged 16, 19 years old Jane Shearer, 46 years old John Shearer, and 4 other Shearer majority of whom were workman and others worked as servant migrated to US.

From Germany

48 years old gentleman Dr Thomas Shearer who was residing in Usa migrated to USA on September 25, 1882 by City Of Berlin put out from Liverpool. Thomas Shearer (24) Laborer, Miss Shearer, aged 22, Mrs Dr. Shearer, Anton Shearer, aged 27, Catherine Shearer (18) Servant, are others that migrated to US.

Shearer Namesakes

  • Jim Shearer, VJ and was host of the 'VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown' and was the "music expert" on VH1's morning show 'Big Morning Buzz Live'
  • Hugh Shearer, Jamaican trade unionist and politician,
  • Dick Shearer, American jazz trombonist
  • Christopher Shearer, prolific United States painter
  • Miranda Shearer, British journalist and author
  • Barbara Shearer, American pianist and pedagogue at the University of California
  • Bill Shearer, chairman of the Constitution Party
  • Aaron Shearer, American classical guitarist known primarily as a pedagogue
  • Ian Shearer, former New Zealand politician of the National Party
  • Harry Shearer, American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer
  • Alan Shearer, CBE
  • Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress and Hollywood star
  • Douglas Shearer, Canadian American pioneering sound designer and recording director
  • Athole Shearer, Canadian-American actress
  • Moira Shearer, internationally renowned British ballet dancer and actress
  • Duncan Shearer, Scottish former footballer
  • Dale Shearer, Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s
  • Bob Shearer, Australian professional golfer and golf course architect
  • Brad Shearer, defensive lineman
  • Scott Shearer, Scottish footballer
  • Bobby Shearer, Scottish professional football player and manager
  • Al Shearer, American actor
  • Matt Shearer, retired lacrosse player
  • Rob Shearer, former professional ice hockey player
  • Robert Austin Shearer, Ontario farmer and political figure
  • Brandi Shearer, American singer and songwriter
  • Dave Shearer, Scottish former professional football player

Shearer Namesakes

  • Jim Shearer, VJ and was host of the 'VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown' and was the "music expert" on VH1's morning show 'Big Morning Buzz Live'
  • Hugh Shearer, Jamaican trade unionist and politician,
  • Dick Shearer, American jazz trombonist
  • Christopher Shearer, prolific United States painter
  • Miranda Shearer, British journalist and author
  • Barbara Shearer, American pianist and pedagogue at the University of California
  • Bill Shearer, chairman of the Constitution Party
  • Aaron Shearer, American classical guitarist known primarily as a pedagogue
  • Ian Shearer, former New Zealand politician of the National Party
  • Harry Shearer, American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer
  • Alan Shearer, CBE
  • Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress and Hollywood star
  • Douglas Shearer, Canadian American pioneering sound designer and recording director
  • Athole Shearer, Canadian-American actress
  • Moira Shearer, internationally renowned British ballet dancer and actress
  • Duncan Shearer, Scottish former footballer
  • Dale Shearer, Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s
  • Bob Shearer, Australian professional golfer and golf course architect
  • Brad Shearer, defensive lineman
  • Scott Shearer, Scottish footballer
  • Bobby Shearer, Scottish professional football player and manager
  • Al Shearer, American actor
  • Matt Shearer, retired lacrosse player
  • Rob Shearer, former professional ice hockey player
  • Robert Austin Shearer, Ontario farmer and political figure
  • Brandi Shearer, American singer and songwriter
  • Dave Shearer, Scottish former professional football player

Related Family Names: