Shelf Surname

11,742,229th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 2 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Ethiopia
Highest density in:
Iran

Shelf Surname Definition:

SHELF: 1. A township of Halifax, co. York. 2. Mr. Ferguson thinks from a Teutonic hero called Scelf or Scylf, the presumed founder of the Scylfingas, a Scandinavian tribe.

Shelf Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ethiopia11:97,546,26229,669
Iran11:76,782,524277,718
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England21:12,187,685173,419
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States191:2,643,089124,494

Shelf (31) may also be a first name.

Shelf Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

SHELF: 1. A township of Halifax, co. York. 2. Mr. Ferguson thinks from a Teutonic hero called Scelf or Scylf, the presumed founder of the Scylfingas, a Scandinavian tribe.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

SHELF: From Shelf, a township co. York, West Riding. The name Shelf has also been derived from the hero Scelf or Scylf, presumed founder of the Scylfingas, a Scandinavian tribe.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Shelf: (Anglo-Saxon scylfe), a ridge of land, a shelf: Raskelf in Yorkshire, a raw shelf above a morass. The saying is: “Raskelf without a steeple, Rascally church and rascally people.”

Bashall in Yorkshire is Bascelf in Domesday.

Family Names And Their Story (1913) by Sabine Baring-Gould

Shelf Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Shelf Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Shelf (Arabic: شلف, Russian: Шельф) is more commonly found in Ethiopia than any other country or territory. It may also occur as:. For other possible spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Shelf? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 11,742,229th most widely held surname throughout the world. It is borne by approximately 1 in 2,147,483,647 people. The surname Shelf is primarily found in Africa, where 50 percent of Shelf reside; 50 percent reside in East Africa and 50 percent reside in Ethiosemitic Africa. It is also the 1,874,099th most commonly used first name throughout the world, borne by 31 people.

This last name is most frequent in Ethiopia, where it is borne by 1 people, or 1 in 97,546,262. Excluding Ethiopia this surname is found in one country. It also occurs in Iran, where 50 percent reside.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Shellf919/
Shielf914/
Shelff913/
Schelf912/
Shelfe911/
Sheilf911/
Self8936,179/
Schelfe8345/
Schelpf8313/
Shellef837/
Schielf832/
Scheilf831/
Schelft830/
Selfe801,720/
Chelf801,049/
Selff8038/
Shalf8011/
Sealf809/
Selfs805/
Shelb805/
Selft805/
Shelv803/
Shilf802/
Sellf802/
Scelf801/
Sholf801/
Szelf801/
Saelf801/
Scheelfe771/
Schilf73633/
Scealf7374/
Schalf7312/
Sheelw735/
Chelfe733/
Sellef732/
Sealef731/
Shellw731/
Schelv731/
Scholf730/
Schetleff711/
Schoellpf710/
Solf671,152/
Selb67510/
Salf67112/
Schilff6735/
Selv6720/
Zelf6719/
Silf6718/
Shellew6715/
Sheylev676/
Selw673/
Setleff673/
Sheelev672/
Scholff672/
Schalpf672/
Celf672/
Schalff671/
Seelhff671/
Sealeff670/
Schilpf670/
Scholpf670/
Seileff670/

Shelf Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Shelf in the Russian language
Шельфself-
Shelf in the Arabic language
شلفshlf-

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Shelf
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis