2000
#12,831
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,200
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.82
Rare Last name
Hise
Derived from a place name meaning "tall" or "lofty" in Old English, likely referring to someone who lived on high ground.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,274 Americans carry the last name Hise. That puts it at #14,472 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 150,728 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hise surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 150,728
Census rank
#14,472
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,983 bearers of the surname Hise in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14472nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hise, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hise
The surname HISE originated in Germany, first appearing in records during the 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old German word "hisa" or "hissa", meaning a small hut or cottage. This suggests the name likely referred to someone who lived in a modest dwelling of this type.
In its early forms, the name was often spelled "Hise" or "Hyse". Over time, spelling variations emerged like "Hise", "Hise", "Hyse", "Hiese", and "Hisse" as the name spread across German-speaking regions. Some of the earliest known bearers were peasants or landowners from rural areas of modern-day Germany and Austria.
One of the first documented instances of the HISE name appears in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical manuscripts from the 13th century. It refers to a "Heinrich Hise" who lived in the village of Eichstätt in Bavaria around 1250.
By the 15th century, the HISE surname had become more widespread. Historical records show a Johannes Hyse who was a merchant and landowner in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1467. Around the same time, a farmer named Michel Hiese is listed in tax records from the village of Niedertressen in Hesse in 1472.
A notable early bearer of the name was Conradus Hise, a Catholic priest and scholar who lived from 1495 to 1549. He served as a professor of theology at the University of Ingolstadt and wrote several texts on religious philosophy.
As the HISE name continued to disperse in the 16th and 17th centuries, it appeared in various town chronicles and church registries across central Europe. This included individuals like Hans Hise, a master baker from Augsburg mentioned in 1592, and Anna Maria Hyse, who married a merchant named Jakob Mayer in Nuremberg in 1624.
Other examples of historical figures with the HISE surname include Johann Christoph Hise (1698-1756), a Lutheran minister in Saxony; Philipp Jakob Hise (1781-1847), a banker from Frankfurt; and Karoline Hise (1809-1891), a German novelist and poet.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hise
Among Census respondents with the surname Hise, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Hise bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Hise surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.5% · 1,775
- Two or more races4.6% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 63
- Black or African American1.7% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hise
Hise appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,727
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,205
+5 bearers (+0.2%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 896 places
2020
#14,472
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,983
-222 bearers (-10.1%)
Per 100,000 0.66
Rank movement Down 745 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,831 | 2,200 | 0.82 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,727 | 2,205 | 0.75 | +5 bearers (+0.2%) | Down 896 places |
| 2020 | #14,472 | 1,983 | 0.66 | -222 bearers (-10.1%) | Down 745 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Hise surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,727 | #14,472 | -5.4% |
| Count | 2,205 | 1,983 | -10.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.75 | 0.66 | -11.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hise bearers went from 2,205 to 1,983 (-10.1% change). The surname moved down 745 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,727 to #14,472.
FAQ
Hise surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hise?
Name Census estimates that about 2,274 living Americans carry the surname Hise. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 150,728 residents.
How common is Hise?
Hise ranks #14,472 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,983 people with the surname Hise. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,274), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.66 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Hise.
Has Hise become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hise went from 2,205 recorded bearers to 1,983. That is a decrease of 222 (-10.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,727 to #14,472.
What does the Census say about the background of Hise?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hise, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (1,775 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hise appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.5%), Two or More Races (4.6%), Hispanic (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Hise (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Hise mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "tall" or "lofty" in Old English, likely referring to someone who lived on high ground. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Hise (0.66 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Hise?
For a quick modern take, check how many people are called Hise on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.