Shears
A surname that can come from a nickname for scissors/shears, or from a shortened form of Shere/Shire.
The #8,596 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,591 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name has at least two plausible origins in the old surname dictionaries. One explanation treats Shears as a nickname or sign-name from the word for shears, the cutting tool; another links it to a patronymic form, meaning “Shere’s son,” from the personal name Shere. Some writers also connect it with shire-related forms, which helps explain why the name was sometimes analyzed as a variant or mis-spelling in older reference works.
History
Older English surname books disagree on the main source of the name, which suggests that different families may have acquired it in different ways. In some cases it may have started as an occupational or trade nickname, while in others it may simply reflect local spelling variation around Shere/Shire. The name is relatively uncommon in the United States today, but it has longstanding English roots.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers also compared Shears with Shear and Shearsmith, showing how easily occupational names could blur into one another in old records.
From the historical record
“shire, parish, district] SHEARS I a nickname and sign-name from the Shears [O.E. sciaruru (pi.), shears; with later -s pi. sufl.] 2 Shere's (Son) : y. Shere' SHEARSMITH (Eng.) Maker of Shears and (Plough-) Shares [v. under Shears (O.E. scear, a ploughshare), and + M.E. smith,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)