Shivers
A surname most likely from a nickname or descriptive term linked to shivering, shaking, or chilliness.
The #5,052 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,494 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most plausibly from English shiver, meaning to tremble or shake, with the -s ending used in some surnames as a nickname-forming or plural-looking ending. In literal sense, it would have described someone who shivered, looked cold, or was associated with shivering in some memorable way. Earlier surname writers also treated it as one of many surnames formed from everyday English words or bodily conditions.
History
The name appears in English-language records and was noted by 19th-century surname collectors as an established surname in Britain and the United States. It is not among the most common English surnames, but it has been present in North American directories and census records for well over a century. Because the etymology is nickname-like, unrelated families may have adopted or inherited it independently.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century surname-gatherer even listed Shivers among names that looked like ordinary English words or conditions, alongside examples such as Chills and Sweats.
From the historical record
“Mr. Child, in a passion, knock'd down Mr. Rock, Mr. Stone like an aspen-leaf shivers ; rtiss Poole used to dance, but she stands Jike a stock Ever since she became Mrs. Rivers ; Mr. Swift hobbles onward, no mortal knows how.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)