Shepperd — Family Name, Records and Arms

Shepperd and Shepherd are two spellings with one history. Read literally, Shepperd points to “Sheep herder”.

Heraldry and the Shepperd name

Heraldry is personal: arms associated with the Shepherd surname were borne by specific families, and sharing the name does not mean sharing the blazon.

Spelling and variants

Spelled with “p” instead of “h”, Shepperd shows how the same name was heard and written differently. Census takers and immigration officers often wrote what they heard. The same family of names includes Sheppard, Shepard and Shephard.

The 2010 US Census counted 1,179 people named Shepperd, ranking it number 22,000 among American surnames. For the full story, order the Shepperd surname pack.