Find out how popular the last name Bista is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bista.

Bista, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bista surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bista in America

Bista is the 40909th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bista surname appeared 533 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bista.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bista to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bista

The surname BISTA originated in Nepal, first appearing in records from the 14th century. It is believed to derive from the Nepali word "bista," meaning a small village or hamlet. The name was initially concentrated in the central and eastern regions of Nepal, particularly in the districts of Sindhupalchok and Bhojpur.

One of the earliest documented instances of the BISTA surname can be found in a land grant inscription from the reign of King Jayasthiti Malla, dated 1384 CE. This inscription mentions a person named "Bishnudatta Bista" as a witness to the land transaction.

During the medieval period, the BISTA family held significant landholdings and played an influential role in the local administration of various parts of Nepal. In the 16th century, a BISTA clan member named Kalu Bista (c. 1520-1590) was appointed as the governor of Nuwakot, a strategic hill fort located near the present-day Kathmandu Valley.

The BISTA surname also appears in several historical texts and manuscripts from Nepal. The "Gopalarajavamsavali," a chronicle of the kings of the Malla dynasty, mentions a minister named "Shiva Bista" who served under King Siddhi Narasimha Malla in the late 17th century.

One of the most prominent figures with the BISTA surname was Kaji Amar Singh Bista (1784-1839), a military commander and statesman during the reign of King Rajendra Bikram Shah. He played a crucial role in suppressing the Bhandari rebellion of 1806 and was later appointed as the governor of Palpa.

Other notable individuals with the BISTA surname include Chandra Shekhar Bista (1901-1982), a renowned Nepali writer and poet, and Durga Datt Bista (1917-2005), a prominent anthropologist and scholar who studied the ethnic groups of Nepal.

In the 20th century, the BISTA surname gained further recognition with individuals like Hari Bista (1936-2021), a prominent communist leader and politician, and Shyam Bista (born 1962), a former international cricket player who represented Nepal in various tournaments.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bista

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bista.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bista was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bista has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bista was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bista, please contact us.

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