The Shell surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,369 people carried this name — #2,696 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 22,100 people counted. That is up 2% from 13,143 in 2000.

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In Argentina’s national register

At least 32 people named Shell live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 22
Entre Ríos 10

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

39 Shell families were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 237 people lived in those households, 6.1 to a family on average. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 18
New York 11
North Carolina 8
Maryland 1
Virginia 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 261 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Shell in American newspapers,
1920.

Newspaper page from The Starkville News carrying the name Shell
The Starkville News 1920-07-16
Newspaper page from The St. Mary Banner carrying the name Shell
The St. Mary Banner 1920-07-17
Newspaper page from The Patriot carrying the name Shell
The Patriot 1920-07-16

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

In print

Shell in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.

13,854 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Shell. The most, 3,331, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 4,034
Victoria 3,180
Queensland 2,508
Western Australia 2,492
South Australia 1,049
Tasmania 432
ACT (Canberra) 75
Northern Territory 16

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

Who carried it

People named Shell,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Rita Shell
    Rita Shell 1863–1950 · editor
  • George R. E. Shell
    George R. E. Shell 1908–1996 · military personnel
  • Daniel Shell d. 1922 · politician
  • George W. Shell 1831–1899 · politician
  • Constance Elizabeth Shell 1901–1996
  • Mary Lossiah Shell 1913–2000

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 Shell,
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 States791 records

791 records of the Shell name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 461
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 171
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 72
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 31
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 29
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 19
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Woodrow W. Shell

    Born 1918 in South Carolina. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Jackson Columbia; sawmill worker. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Eastview Cemetery, Edgefield, South Carolina.

    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 Math Shell

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the Rhynland from Antwerp, aged 24; tailor. From Schlingen, Germany; bound for New York.

    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 Edward Shell

    Born 1932; from Benton County, Washington. U.S. Army, light weapons infantry leader; declared dead 1953 in North Korea.

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

Showing 3 of 791 records for Shell in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). 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).

Australia98 records

98 records of the Shell name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 49
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 31
  • Tasmanian Names Index 13
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 2
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Shell

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Earl Grey, sailing from Plymouth in 1842. Native of Islington, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1848.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Emily Shell

    Arrived in Queensland in 1883 aboard the Hampshire, aged 20.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Herbert Leslie Shell

    Retired of Geelong, Victoria; died 1974.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 98 records for Shell in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada7 records

7 records of the Shell name in Canada
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 2
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 2
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Arthur J. Shell

    Killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, aged 34; buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record William Shell

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Arthur J. Shell

    Died 1918 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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

Showing 3 of 7 records for Shell 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. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Shell name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record A. Shell

    Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record H. G. Shell

    Royal Fusiliers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Shell.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Shell 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.

See the Shell volume
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