Shapiro, and its variations such as Shapira, Schapiro, Schapira, Sapir, Sapira, Spira, Spiro, Sapiro, Szapiro/Szpiro in Polish and Chapiro in French (more at "See also"), is a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.

Etymology

The surname is derived from Spira, the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

name of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

; compare with Spire, the French name for that city. Other name variants based on the city name "Spira" include Spira, Spire, Spiro, Spear, Szpir, Szpiro, Spero, Sapir, Sapiro, Chapiro and Sprai.(Kaganoff, 1977) Source: Saul Zeichner, 27 November 2000, Revised 10 April 2009 http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kolomea/nameorigin.htm The

Jewish community of Speyer The history of the Jews in Speyer reaches back over 1,000 years. In the Middle Ages, the city of Speyer (formerly Spira), Germany, was home to one of the most significant Jews, Jewish communities in the Holy Roman Empire. Its significance is attes ...

was one of three leading cities central to the development of

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

culture, referred to as the , an acronym based on the names of the cities of Speyer/Spira,

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. The family name Speyer (based on the modern German name for the same city) has also become a well-known surname that was spread by Jews from Frankfurt to England, the United States and Canada in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Notable people surnamed Shapiro

* Adam Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Alan Shapiro (born 1952), American poet * Alan Shapiro (education reformer), American education reformer * Alan N. Shapiro (born 1956), American science fiction and media theorist * Alex Shapiro, American composer * Allen Shapiro, American investor * Andrew H. Schapiro, American diplomat * Anna D. Shapiro (born 1966), American theatre director * Ari Shapiro, American reporter with National Public Radio *

Arnold Shapiro Arnold Joel Shapiro (born February 1, 1941) is an American television producer and writer. His best known work is the 1978 Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary, ''Scared Straight!'' His other productions include the CBS reality series, ''Rescue ...

(born 1941), American television producer and writer * Arnold S. Shapiro, American mathematician * Arthur Shapiro, entomologist and ecologist *

Arthur K. Shapiro Arthur K. Shapiro, M.D., (January 11, 1923 – June 3, 1995) was an American psychiatrist and expert on Tourette syndrome. His "contributions to the understanding of Tourette syndrome completely changed the prevailing view of this disorder";Do ...

, psychiatrist and expert on the Tourette syndrome (1923–1995) * Artie Shapiro (1916–2003), American jazz bassist * Ascher H. Shapiro, MIT professor and expert in fluid dynamics (1916–2004) * Ben Shapiro (director), Peabody winning media expert and director. *

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator, media host, and attorney. He writes columns for Creators Syndicate, ''Newsweek'', and ''Ami Magazine'', an ...

, American conservative political commentator * Bernard Shapiro, Canadian academic, civil servant * Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist * Boris Shapiro, Russian-Swedish mathematician * Cal Shapiro, vocalist, Timeflies *

Carl Shapiro Carl Shapiro (born March 20, 1955) is an American economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. He is the co-author, along with Hal Varian of ''Information Rules, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide ...

, (born 1955) UC Berkeley economist and mathematician * Carl J. Shapiro (1913–2021), Boston philanthropist * Carol Harris-Shapiro, Reconstructionist rabbi * Charles S. Shapiro, American diplomat * Daniel B. Shapiro, U.S. ambassador to Israel * David Shapiro (disambiguation), several people *

Dmitry Shapiro Dmitry Shapiro is an American entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of GoMeta, Inc. which operates MindStudio.ai, an AI Agent building platform (over 200k AI Agents deployed). Prior to MindStudio, Dmitry was CEO of Koji, an App Store and platform ...

, entrepreneur, inventor, Googler * Doug Shapiro (1959–2025), American racing cyclist *

Ehud Shapiro Ehud Shapiro (; born 1955) is an Israeli scientist, entrepreneur, artist, and political activist who is Professor of Computer Science and Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. With international reputation, he made contributions to many s ...

, Israeli computer scientist * Florence Shapiro, American politician * Francine Shapiro, American psychologist * Fred R. Shapiro, American legal librarian and editor *

George Shapiro George Shapiro (May 18, 1931 – May 26, 2022) was an American talent manager and television producer. He was among the most successful managers in show business in the United States, best known for representing Jerry Seinfeld, Carl Reiner, and ...

, American talent producer * Gerald Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Harold S. Shapiro (1928–2021), mathematics professor * Harold T. Shapiro, president of Princeton University * Harvey Shapiro (disambiguation), several people *

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British Pop music, pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as poss ...

, British singer *

Ian Shapiro Ian Shapiro (born September 29, 1956) is an American legal scholar and political scientist who serves as the Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He served as the Henry R. Luce Director of the MacMillan Center at Yale Univ ...

, American political scientist * Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro, mathematician (1929–2009) * Irving Shapiro (1904–1931), one of the Shapiro Brothers, New York City labor racketeers * Irving S. Shapiro, attorney, former CEO of Dupont * Irwin Shapiro (1911–1981), American writer and translator *

Irwin I. Shapiro Irwin Ira Shapiro is an American astrophysicist and Harvard University Professor, Timken University Professor at Harvard University. He has been a professor at Harvard since 1982. He was the director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astr ...

, astrophysicist * J. David Shapiro, American filmmaker and stand-up comedian *

Jacob Shapiro Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro (May 5, 1899 – June 9, 1947) was a New York mobster who, with his partner Louis Buchalter, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, controlled industrial labor racketeering in New York for two decades and established the Murder, Inc. or ...

, mobster * James S. Shapiro (born 1955), American professor of English Literature * Jeremy J. Shapiro, professor at Fielding Graduate University. * Jesse Shapiro, American economist * Jim Shapiro (attorney), attorney * Jim Shapiro (drummer), American musician, drummer of Veruca Salt * Joel Shapiro (1941–2025), American artist and sculptor * Joel Shapiro (mathematician), American mathematician * Jonathan Shapiro (born 1958), South African political cartoonist known as Zapiro * Jordan Shapiro, American author and educator * Joseph N. Shapiro (1887–1961), urologist, one of the founders of the urologic oncology in Russia *

Josh Shapiro Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the attorney general of Pen ...

(b. 1973), Pennsylvania governor, politician, and lawyer *

Judith Shapiro Judith R. Shapiro (born January 24, 1942) is a former President of Barnard College, a liberal arts college for women at Columbia University. Prior to her role at Barnard, she had a teaching career as a cultural anthropologist at Bryn Mawr Colleg ...

, former president of Barnard College * Judy Shapiro-Ikenberry (born 1942), American long-distance runner * Justine Shapiro, Documentary Filmmaker and Globe Trekker host * Karl Shapiro, United States poet * Laurie Gwen Shapiro, American novelist and filmmaker * Lee Shapiro, American film maker, killed by the Soviet military in Afghanistan *

Lee Shapiro (musician) Lee Shapiro is an American musician/arranger who was a member of the band The Four Seasons and the founder of The Hit Men, a brand of supergroups featuring session and touring musicians from other bands. Early life Shapiro was born in Passa ...

, American keyboardist, member of The Four Seasons and founder of The Hit Men * Les Shapiro (1956–2022), American sports announcer * Linda Hopkins Shapiro, better known as Tera Patrick, former American pornographic actress * Lisa Shapiro (born 1967), American and Canadian philosopher * Lori Shapiro (born 1973), American political official * Louis Shapiro (communist), American Communist Party organizer * Louis Shapiro, Connecticut Supreme Court justice * Marc B. Shapiro, professor of Judaic Studies at University of Scranton * Mark Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Marla Shapiro, Canadian medical doctor, author and health journalist (print, television) *

Meir Shapiro Yehuda Meir Shapiro (; 3 March 1887 – 27 October 1933) was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing the Cha ...

, Orthodox rabbi * Mel Shapiro (1935–2024), American theatre director, writer and academic * Mendel Shapiro, Modern Orthodox rabbi * Meyer Shapiro (1908–1931), one of the Shapiro Brothers, New York City labor racketeers * Michael Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Mordechai Shapiro, American singer * Nat Mayer Shapiro, American visual artist * Neal Shapiro, president of PBS station Thirteen/WNET New York City. * Neal Shapiro (equestrian) (born 1945), American equestrian and Olympic medalist *

Nevin Shapiro Nevin Karey Shapiro (born April 13, 1969) is an American fraudster who received a 20-year prison sentence for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme. The remainder of Shapiro’s sentence was commuted by President Biden in December, 2024. Acco ...

(born 1969), convicted American fraudster and central figure in the 2011 University of Miami athletics scandal * Nina Gordon Shapiro, American singer * Norma Levy Shapiro, United States federal judge *

Norman Shapiro Norman Zalmon Shapiro was an American mathematician, who was the co-author of the Rice–Shapiro theorem. Education Shapiro obtained a BS in mathematics at University of Illinois in 1952. Shapiro spent the summer of 1954 at Bell Laboratories in ...

(1932–2021), American mathematician and computer scientist * Paul Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Peter Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Ralph Shapiro (1908–1974), New York politician *

Refael Shapiro Rabbi Refael Shapiro (1837–1921) was the famed Rosh Yeshiva of the Volozhin yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, (now Valozhyn, Belarus), and a son-in-law of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the ''Netziv'').Yeshiva Eitz Chaim Vol ...

, Orthodox rabbi * Rick Shapiro, comedian and actor * Robert Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Robert Schapire, computer scientist who co-invented AdaBoost, a widely used machine learning meta-algorithm. * Roy D. Shapiro, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School * Samantha Shapiro (born 1993), American gymnast * Samantha Harris Shapiro, American TV host (''Dancing with the Stars'', ''Entertainment Tonight'') * Samuel Shapiro (disambiguation), several people * Saul Shapiro, president of the Metropolitan Television Alliance, LLC (MTVA) * Scott Shapiro, American political philosopher * Seymour Shapiro, American chemist who pioneered development of pharmaceuticals for use against diabetes * Sharon Shapiro, American gymnast * Shmuel Shapiro (born 1974), French Chassidic-Jewish singer and Hazan. * Sidney Shapiro, Chinese author and translator of American descent * Stanley J. Shapiro, professor emeritus of Marketing at Simon Fraser University * Stewart Shapiro, philosopher and logician * Stuart Loren Shapiro, better known as Todd Loren (1960–1992), American publisher * Stuart S. Shapiro, producer, writer, director, and Internet entrepreneur * Sumner Shapiro, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and former director of the Office of Naval Intelligence * Susan Shapiro, American author and educator *

Ted Shapiro Ted Shapiro (October 31, 1899 – May 26, 1980) was a United States popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher. Early life Shapiro was born on October 31, 1899, in New York City. He became a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and accomp ...

(1899–1980), U.S. popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher * Theodore Shapiro (psychiatrist), psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in New York * Theodore Shapiro (composer), American composer * Todd Shapiro, Canadian radio show host * Victor L. Shapiro (1924–2013), American mathematician * Walter Shapiro, American journalist and columnist * William "Willie" Shapiro (1911–1934), one of the Shapiro Brothers, New York City labor racketeers

Other uses

* "Miss Shapiro", a song by 801 from the album ''

801 Live ''801 Live'' is the first live album by 801. It was originally released by Island Records in the UK (cat. no. ILPS 9444) in November 1976. It was subsequently released by Polydor Records in North America (cat. no PD-1-6148) in March 1978. In ...

References

{{surname Surnames of Jewish origin Surnames Yiddish-language surnames Jewish toponymic surnames Jews and Judaism in Speyer he:שפירא