Shephard Name Meaning, Origin and Heraldry

Long before computers fixed spellings, Shephard and Shepherd were used side by side. Taken at its root, Shephard points to “Sheep herder”. The two spellings differ in a small detail: Shephard has “a” where Shepherd has “e”. Related forms: Shepard, Sheppard and Shepperd.

The Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists Shephard with 6,859 bearers, at rank 5,105. That is enough to place it in the top 10,000 American surnames.

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