Shem Surname
Approximately 6,454 people bear this surname
Shem Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya | 2,165 | 1:21,330 | 2,449 |
| Iran | 983 | 1:78,110 | 8,015 |
| Nigeria | 946 | 1:187,255 | 11,366 |
| Vanuatu | 708 | 1:372 | 59 |
| Tanzania | 423 | 1:125,157 | 11,807 |
| Papua New Guinea | 356 | 1:22,904 | 2,503 |
| United States | 245 | 1:1,479,424 | 101,022 |
| Canada | 87 | 1:423,513 | 37,101 |
| Russia | 85 | 1:1,695,565 | 111,577 |
| DR Congo | 68 | 1:1,086,464 | 68,260 |
| Marshall Islands | 64 | 1:810 | 191 |
| India | 47 | 1:16,320,540 | 259,912 |
| Solomon Islands | 41 | 1:14,147 | 2,649 |
| Australia | 31 | 1:870,829 | 53,581 |
| Malaysia | 23 | 1:1,282,358 | 54,976 |
| Indonesia | 21 | 1:6,297,581 | 275,398 |
| Singapore | 17 | 1:323,983 | 13,856 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 14 | 1:97,427 | 6,588 |
| Liberia | 14 | 1:314,895 | 17,893 |
| Israel | 13 | 1:658,280 | 45,106 |
| South Africa | 9 | 1:6,019,745 | 157,966 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 1:22,330,486 | 77,733 |
| Estonia | 8 | 1:165,226 | 26,217 |
| Brazil | 7 | 1:30,582,047 | 441,004 |
| Uganda | 6 | 1:6,506,546 | 123,710 |
| France | 4 | 1:16,605,680 | 368,153 |
| Ghana | 4 | 1:6,755,173 | 15,406 |
| Fiji | 4 | 1:223,598 | 2,635 |
| Egypt | 4 | 1:22,983,938 | 62,368 |
| Belarus | 4 | 1:2,375,265 | 105,497 |
| China | 3 | 1:455,773,855 | 21,925 |
| Cambodia | 3 | 1:5,162,382 | 10,688 |
| Kazakhstan | 2 | 1:8,841,248 | 174,813 |
| Taiwan | 2 | 1:11,722,373 | 63,559 |
| Ukraine | 2 | 1:22,761,348 | 425,733 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1:4,581,136 | 93,443 |
| England | 2 | 1:27,859,030 | 389,889 |
| Transnistria | 1 | 1:474,699 | 17,893 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1:70,638,345 | 1,175,915 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 1:15,438,240 | 133,260 |
| Turkey | 1 | 1:77,821,422 | 191,047 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1:20,808,560 | 18,521 |
| Zambia | 1 | 1:15,849,922 | 53,989 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 | 1:30,929,142 | 67,786 |
| Malawi | 1 | 1:17,119,109 | 34,144 |
| Italy | 1 | 1:61,156,688 | 199,583 |
| Algeria | 1 | 1:38,631,551 | 130,422 |
| Argentina | 1 | 1:42,743,414 | 282,706 |
| Botswana | 1 | 1:2,186,929 | 30,250 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 1:20,769,068 | 227,406 |
| Congo | 1 | 1:4,989,096 | 34,171 |
| Czechia | 1 | 1:10,633,469 | 206,023 |
| Germany | 1 | 1:80,505,459 | 560,955 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1:7,335,483 | 16,643 |
| Iceland | 1 | 1:380,090 | 11,096 |
| Iraq | 1 | 1:35,021,654 | 31,813 |
| Serbia | 1 | 1:7,144,948 | 38,459 |
| Japan | 1 | 1:127,844,293 | 73,547 |
| Lithuania | 1 | 1:3,034,588 | 47,401 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1:4,708,939 | 29,543 |
| Malta | 1 | 1:430,272 | 3,380 |
| Moldova | 1 | 1:3,561,368 | 78,271 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1:16,887,176 | 156,465 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 1:4,528,323 | 55,372 |
| Peru | 1 | 1:31,784,123 | 64,452 |
| Philippines | 1 | 1:101,238,223 | 404,861 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 10 | 1:2,437,537 | 68,340 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 51 | 1:984,680 | 58,342 |
The alternate forms: Shém (1) are calculated separately.
Shem (26,353) may also be a first name.
Shem Demographics
Average Shem Salary in
United States
$48,968 USD
Per year
Average Salary in
United States
$43,149 USD
Per year
View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States
Shem Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Shem Come From? nationality or country of origin
The surname Shem (Bengali: শেম, Hindi: शेम, Marathi: शेम, Oriya: େସମ, Russian: Шем, Tibetan: ཤེམ་) is found in Kenya more than any other country or territory. It can also occur as a variant: Shém. Click here for further possible spellings of this surname.
How Common Is The Last Name Shem? popularity and diffusion
The surname is the 76,008th most commonly held family name on a global scale, held by around 1 in 1,129,152 people. This last name is mostly found in Africa, where 56 percent of Shem reside; 40 percent reside in East Africa and 23 percent reside in East Bantu Africa. It is also the 30,758th most commonly held first name throughout the world, borne by 26,353 people.
The last name Shem is most frequent in Kenya, where it is held by 2,165 people, or 1 in 21,330. In Kenya it is most common in: Kisii County, where 30 percent reside, Nairobi County, where 16 percent reside and Nyamira County, where 10 percent reside. Outside of Kenya this surname is found in 65 countries. It is also common in Iran, where 15 percent reside and Nigeria, where 15 percent reside.
Shem Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The frequency of Shem has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people carrying the Shem surname grew 480 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it fell 80 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Shem Last Name Statistics demography
The religious adherence of those bearing the surname is chiefly Christian (100%) in Kenya.
In The United States those bearing the Shem surname are 20.77% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than the national average, with 74% being registered to vote for the political party.
The amount Shem earn in different countries varies marginally. In United States they earn 13.49% more than the national average, earning $48,968 USD per year and in Canada they earn 13.38% more than the national average, earning $56,329 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
Shem Name Transliterations
| Transliteration | ICU Latin | Percentage of Incidence |
|---|---|---|
| Shem in the Bengali language | ||
| শেম | sema | - |
| Shem in the Hindi language | ||
| शेम | sema | 91.67 |
| शाेम | saema | 4.17 |
| शेम्पू | sempu | 4.17 |
| Shem in the Marathi language | ||
| शेम | sema | 68.75 |
| शॅम | sema | 31.25 |
| Shem in the Tibetan language | ||
| ཤེམ་ | shem | 68 |
| ཤེརམ་ | sheram | 24 |
| ཤེའེམ་ | shé'em | 8 |
| Shem in the Oriya language | ||
| େସମ | esama | 44.44 |
| େଶମ | esama | 33.33 |
| େସମ୍ | esam | 22.22 |
| Shem in the Russian language | ||
| Шем | sem | - |
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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
- 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 Shem
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis