The Irish, English and Scottish surname Shields is an habitational name from a pair of places in Northumberland and County Durham (now both in Tyne and Wear) called North and South Shields, named from the Middle English term schele meaning “shed, hut, or shelter.” When found in Ireland it is a reduced form of O’Shields, an alternative anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Siadhail meaning “descendant of Siadhal.” A noted bearer of the name is the Irish musician Kevin Shields. Kevin was born in New York on May 21st 1963. Frederick Shields was a 19th Century British Artist, Illustrator and designer who was born in 1833 and died in 1911. There are approximately 50,000 bearers of the name Shields currently living in the US.

SHIELDS RAISED CREST RING