Determinations of shear wave speeds of sound and attenuation coefficients are reported for soft tissues, a silicone rubber reference material, and a gel used in manufacturing ultrasonically tissue‐mimicking materials. Fresh bovine tissues were investigated, including calfskin, liver, cardiac muscle, and striated muscle. Because of the very large shear wave attenuation coefficients, reasonably accurate determinations of shear wave properties are difficult to make. The quantity measured directly was the complex reflection coefficient for shear waves at a planar interface between the sample and fused silica. Measurements were made at frequencies spanning the range 2–14 MHz. The shear wave attenuation coefficients increase with frequency and are of the order of 104times the longitudinal wave attenuation coefficients. The shear wave speeds of sound also increase with frequency but are only a few percent of the longitudinal wave speeds of sound. The results are accurate enough to allow frequency dependencies to be proposed.