Shapiro Surname History

Origins Available:
Germany
Israel

Etymology of Shapiro

What does the name Shapiro mean?

During the times when people began to adopt second names to better identify themselves, one of the most common traditions for adopting surnames in Jewish culture was to assume a surname ornamentally, that is, choosing a name that is unrelated to the occupation or an ancestors' name. The surname Shapiro was likely an ornamental name derived from the Hebrew word "shapir," which means 'lovely'. It is also thought that some bearers of Shapiro derived their name from the German town Speyer, which had a large Jewish population in the Middle Ages.

Shapiro Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Shapiro, Schapiro, Shapero, Shapira, Chapiro, Szapiro, Szapira and many more.

Shapiro Ranking

In the United States, the name Shapiro is the 1,666^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1

Shapiro migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shapiro Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joe Shapiro, who settled in Boston in 1890
David Myer Shapiro, who landed in Mississippi in 1898 2

Shapiro Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Abram Shapiro, aged 20, who landed in America, in 1900
Henry Shapiro, who settled in Allegheny Co. Pennsylvania in 1904
Abraham Shapiro, who settled in Alabama in 1905
Abram Shapiro, aged 20, who immigrated to the United States from Minsk, in 1905
Abraham Shapiro, aged 23, who settled in America from Manchester, in 1905
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Shapiro (post 1700) +

Robert B. Shapiro (1938-2025), American CEO Monsanto 1995-2000, CEO NutraSweet 1982-1990
Mel Shapiro (1935-2024), American theatre director, writer and academic
Joshua D. "Josh" Shapiro (b. 1973), American Democratic Party politician, 48th Governor of Pennsylvania (2023-), 50th Attorney General of Pennsylvania (2017-2023) 3
Walter Shapiro (d. 2024), American journalist, columnist, writer, and author, Press Secretary for the U.S. Secretary of Labor and a speech writer for President Jimmy Carter
David Shapiro (1947-2024), American poet, literary critic, and art historian
Peter Ian Shapiro (1952-2024), American financial services executive, member of the Board of Directors of New Israel Fund, and politician from New Jersey
George Shapiro (1931-2022), American talent manager and television producer, best known for representing Jerry Seinfeld, Carl Reiner and Andy Kaufman, and as a producer for the sitcom Seinfeld
Leslie Mark "Les" Shapiro (1956-2022), American sports media figure, an anchor for CBS Sports, and a host of the ESPN radio talk program, in Denver, Colorado
Carl J. Shapiro (1913-2021), American businessman and philanthropist
Norma Sondra Levy Shapiro (1928-2016), American jurist, Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1978–1998)
... (Another 48 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Shapiro family +

Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie)

Amy Elizabeth Shapiro (1967-1988), American Student from Stamford, Connecticut, America, who flew aboard the Pan Am Flight 103 from Frankfurt to Detroit, known as the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and died 4

Triangle Waist Company

Miss Rosie Shapiro (b. 1894), Russian Jewish garment worker who was working at Triangle Waist Company factory at the Asch building in Greenwich Village on the 25th March 1911 when fire broke out; she died in the fire 5

Sources +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Pan Am Flight 103's victims: A list of those killed 25 years ago | syracuse.com. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/pan_am_flight_103s_victims_a_list_of_those_killed_25_years_ago.html
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (retrieved on 3rd August 2021.) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire