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

Giese, 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 Giese surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Giese in America

Giese is the 5319th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Giese surname appeared 6,553 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Giese.

We can also compare 2010 data for Giese 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 Giese

The surname Giese is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Low German word "giesen," which means "to pour" or "to stream," suggesting a possible occupational connection to brewing or water-related trades.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Giese name was Hans Giese, a brewer who lived in the town of Lübeck, Germany, in the late 1500s. His occupation as a brewer lends credence to the theory that the name originated from the word "giesen" and its association with liquid-related professions.

In the 17th century, the Giese name appeared in various records across northern Germany, including church registers and municipal documents. Notable individuals from this period include Johann Giese, a scholar and writer born in Lüneburg in 1612, and Joachim Giese, a merchant from Hamburg who lived in the latter half of the 1600s.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership in England compiled in 1086, does not contain any references to the Giese surname, indicating that its origins were likely confined to Germanic regions during the medieval period.

As the Giese name spread throughout Germany over the centuries, it also became associated with various place names, such as Giesendorf, a village in Saxony-Anhalt, and Giesenhausen, a town in Lower Saxony. These place names may have influenced the spelling variations of the surname, including Giesen, Giesse, and Giesecke.

Notable bearers of the Giese surname in more recent history include Johann Giese (1761-1840), a German jurist and legal scholar; Friedrich Giese (1825-1899), a German architect known for his work on the Semper Opera House in Dresden; and Else Giese (1888-1975), a German author and children's book writer.

Other prominent individuals with the Giese surname include Wilhelm Giese (1895-1966), a German general during World War II; Theodor Giese (1890-1976), a German politician and member of the Reichstag; and Hans Giese (1893-1968), a German-American scientist and zoologist who made significant contributions to the study of marine biology.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Giese

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

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 Giese 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 Giese 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 Giese was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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