Contents [hide]

Shepard History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Shepard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The roots of the Shepard family are found in the Scottish-English border region among an ancient people called the Boernicians. Shepard was first used as a name for a shepherd, one who guarded sheep. In Scotland, the name was often Latinized as pastor in early charters. 1 In this latter case, the Biblical reference to paschal lamb, the Lamb of God or Agnus Dei should be understood.

Early Origins of the Shepard family

The surname Shepard was first found in Peebles, where William and Walter Shepherd (recorded in the Latin form "Pastor") were cited in legal documents in the year 1262. One hundred years later we find a branch of the family in Morayshire, where Henricus Scyphard held land in Elgin in 1363. 1

Early History of the Shepard family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shepard research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1513, 1565, 1605, 1649 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Shepard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shepard Spelling Variations

Boernician names that evolved in the largely preliterate Middle Ages are often marked by considerable spelling variations. Shepard has been spelled Shepherd, Sheppard, Shepphard, Sheepheard, Sheepherd, Shippert, Shepard, Shephard and many more.

Early Notables of the Shepard family

More information is included under the topic Early Shepard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shepard Ranking

In the United States, the name Shepard is the 778^th most popular surname with an estimated 37,305 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Shepard family to Ireland

Some of the Shepard family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shepard migration to the United States +

Some of the Boernician-Scottish Clan families who came to North America were Loyalists who went north to Canada after the American War of Independence. Families on both sides of the border went on to found two of the world's great nations. This century, families with Scottish roots have rediscovered their heritage through highland games and clan societies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Shepard or a variant listed above:

Shepard Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Edward Shepard, who settled in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1630
John Shepard, who landed in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1635 3
Ralph Shepard, who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1635 3
Samuel Shepard, who arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1635 3
Thomas Shepard, who landed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1635 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Shepard Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Owen Shepard, who landed in Virginia in 1703 3

Shepard Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J C Shepard, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
W H Shepard, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1860 3

Shepard migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shepard Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Andrew Shepard, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
Ann Shepard, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
James Shepard, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
Rose Shepard, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
Mr. Thomas Shepard U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4

Shepard migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Shepard Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

George Shepard, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 5
Eliza Shepard, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 5
Catherine Shepard, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 5

Shepard migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Shepard Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Edward Shepard, (b. 1820), aged 30, British carpenter travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 6
Mrs. Sarah Shepard, (b. 1818), aged 32, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850, she died in 1868 6
Miss Sarah Shepard, (b. 1846), aged 4, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 6
Miss Emma Shepard, (b. 1849), aged 1, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850, she died in 1883 6

Shepard migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 7

Shepard Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Grace Shepard, aged 21, who landed in Jamaica in 1683 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Shepard (post 1700) +

Sam Shepard (1943-2017), born Samuel Shepard Rogers III, American playwright and actor, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, Buried Child, and was an Academy Award nominee for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager
Rear Admiral (USN) Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (1923-1998), the first American astronaut in space, the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, the only astronaut of the Mercury Seven to walk on the Moon 8
Alicia C. Shepard (1953-2023), American journalist, media writer and expert on the work and lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
David A. Shepard (1947-2021), American politician and a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
David Shepard (1940-2017), American film preservationist who restored many high quality video versions of silent films
Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (1933-2016), American honky tonk singer-songwriter
William M. Shepard (b. 1949), former NASA astronaut with over 159 days in space 9
Lewis Capet Shepard (1841-1919), American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
David Hammond Shepard (1923-2007), American inventor best known for the first optical character recognition device
Bob Shepard, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Texas, 1988 10
... (Another 74 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) EDEN 1838. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1838Eden.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
NASA Astronauts Homepage. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) Alan Shepard. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepard-alan.html
NASA Astronauts Homepage. (Retrieved 2011, January 20) William Shepard. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepherd.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html