Start your family tree now Is your surname Schapiro?
There are already 111 users and 1,011 genealogy profiles with the Schapiro surname on Geni. Explore Schapiro genealogy and family history in the World's Largest Family Tree.

Schapiro Genealogy and Schapiro Family History Information

‹ Back to Surnames Index

Create your Family Tree.
Discover your Family History.

  • Build your family tree online
  • Share photos and videos
  • Smart Matching™ technology
  • Free!
view all

Profiles

  • Dr. Morton "Morty" Owen Schapiro, Ph.D., President Northwestern University
    Biography of Morton Schapiro from Northwestern University Website = Morton Schapiro was named the 16th president of Northwestern University on December 16, 2008, and he began his term on Septemb...
  • Harav Meir Yehuda Schapiro (Daf Yomi) (1887 - 1933)
    Rabbi Shapiro the founder of Daf Yomi, and founder of Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva was considered a gaon in his lifetime. He descended from a line of renown Rebbes, a great-grandson of Reb Pinchas of Koretz...
  • Leonard Bertram Schapiro, CBE (1908 - 1983)
    , Leonard Bertram (1908–1983), historian and barrister, was born in Glasgow on 22 April 1908, the elder son and second of three children of Max Schapiro and his wife, Leah Levine. His father, educated ...
  • Meyer Schapiro (1904 - 1996)
    Meyer Schapiro was a Lithuanian-born American art historian known for forging new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works of art. An expert on...

About the Schapiro surname

Schapiro (also Shapiro, Shapira, Spiro, Spira, etc.)

Is a Jewish last name, taken by fomer residents of the city of Shpeyer in Bavaria (XI-XIV centuries), one of the most important Jewish religious centers of Europe at that time.

The community was reportedly destroyed by the crusaders and its members spread all over eastern-central Europe (Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, etc.).

Also, the word shapira in Aramaic means "something beautiful", from the hebrew word "sapir" or safire.

Schapiro is one of three Ashkenazic last names that have a known "yichus" (credible family line) as Kohanim, members of the Jewish priestly clan, descendants of Aharon, Moses brother and first high priest.

It must be noted that, while being a Schapiro doesn't automatically render you a kohen (you must have a 3-generation family tradition), it does mean you have a high chance of being one.