The Shafer surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 25,641 people carried this name — #1,379 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 11,500 people counted. That is up 1% from 25,498 in 2000.

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In print

Shafer in American newspapers,
1898–1901.

Newspaper page from The Anaconda Standard carrying the name Shafer
The Anaconda Standard 1899-02-17
Newspaper page from The Anaconda Standard carrying the name Shafer
The Anaconda Standard 1898-03-29
Newspaper page from The Butte Inter Mountain carrying the name Shafer
The Butte Inter Mountain 1901-05-13

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Shafer in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1980s.

724 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Shafer. The most, 142, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 337
Queensland 137
Victoria 125
South Australia 48
Tasmania 34
Western Australia 23
ACT (Canberra) 14

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Shafer.

Who carried it

People named Shafer,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Jacob K. Shafer
    Jacob K. Shafer 1823–1876 · judge
  • Ira Shafer
    Ira Shafer 1831–1896 · lawyer
  • Casper Shafer 1712–1784
  • John Clement Shafer 1820–1895
  • William T. Shafer 1825–1882 · politician
  • Orator Shafer 1851–1922 · baseball player

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Shafer,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States2,049 records

2,049 records of the Shafer name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 946
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 388
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 349
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 219
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 86
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 47
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 11
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • New York State police and firefighter memorial rolls 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Louis G. Shafer

    Born 1914 in West Virginia. Enlisted 1943 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; route man. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Elisabeth Shafer

    Arrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Oregon Crosby from Bremen, aged 44; farmer. From Hanover, Germany.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Glenn Wesley Shafer

    Born 1945; from Odenville, Alabama. U.S. Marine Corps, combat engineer; died in an accident 1967 in Quang Nam, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 2,049 records for Shafer in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Canada16 records

16 records of the Shafer name in Canada
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 8
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 3
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 3
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Catherine Shafer

    Buried in 1979 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 93.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Beatrice C. Shafer

    Died 1917; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Cassie Shafer

    Died 1871 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 16 records for Shafer in Canada.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Australia15 records

15 records of the Shafer name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 8
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 4
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 2
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Saul Shafer

    Retired of Toorak, Victoria; died 2000.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record Frederick Shafer

    Naturalised in Queensland in 1881.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Shafer

    Sailed from Victoria in 1865 aboard the Omeo, bound for Hokitika, aged 28.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 15 records for Shafer in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

France1 record

1 record of the Shafer name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Theodore Mahlon Shafer

    Born 1939 in the United States; died 1997 in Saint-Jean-d'Aulps (Haute-Savoie).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Shafer.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Shafer is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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