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

Heiser, 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 Heiser surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Heiser in America

Heiser is the 5277th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Heiser surname appeared 6,606 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 Heiser.

We can also compare 2010 data for Heiser 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 Heiser

The surname Heiser is of German origin, with its roots traceable to the late 15th or early 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the German word "heiser," which means "hoarse" or "husky-voiced." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with someone who had a distinctive hoarse voice.

The earliest records of the Heiser name can be found in various German regions, particularly in the southern and central parts of the country. Some of the earliest documented instances include Johann Heiser, born in 1532 in Nuremberg, and Hans Heiser, a farmer from Hesse, who lived in the mid-16th century.

In the 17th century, the Heiser surname appeared in several historical records, including parish registers and guild documents. One notable individual from this era was Michael Heiser, a master craftsman and member of the Goldsmiths' Guild in Augsburg, who lived from 1621 to 1689.

As the name spread across different regions of Germany, variations in spelling emerged, such as Heisser, Heysser, and Heyser. These variations were often influenced by local dialects and the preferences of scribes who recorded the names.

In the 18th century, the Heiser surname gained further prominence with individuals like Johann Heiser (1715-1794), a renowned clockmaker from Saxony, and Wilhelm Heiser (1762-1833), a respected teacher and author from Württemberg.

The 19th century saw the name Heiser spread beyond Germany's borders as a result of emigration. Notable individuals from this period include Heinrich Heiser (1819-1889), a German-American businessman who founded a successful brewing company in Philadelphia, and Karl Heiser (1856-1918), an Austrian-born inventor and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of early internal combustion engines.

Throughout its history, the Heiser surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Heiserberg, a small town in Baden-Württemberg, and Heiserhof, a village in the Palatinate region of Germany.

While the name Heiser has its origins in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, carried by German immigrants who settled in these countries over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Heiser

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

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

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

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