2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Lisitza
A surname derived from the Russian word for "fox".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 112 Americans carry the last name Lisitza. That puts it at #156,269 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,060,307 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lisitza 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
112
1 in 3,060,307
Census rank
#156,269
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
98
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 98 bearers of the surname Lisitza in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156269th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lisitza, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (5.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lisitza
The surname Lisitza is of Ukrainian origin, derived from the word "lisytsia," which means "fox" in Ukrainian. This surname is believed to have emerged around the 16th century in the regions of modern-day Ukraine.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Lisitza can be found in the Cossack Registers of the Zaporozhian Host, a military formation of Ukrainian Cossacks in the 16th-18th centuries. These registers were maintained to keep track of the Cossacks' service records and often included their surnames.
The surname Lisitza is thought to have originally been a descriptive nickname, possibly referring to someone with fox-like characteristics or qualities, such as cunning or slyness. It may have also been used to denote someone who lived near a fox den or worked with foxes in some capacity, such as a hunter or furrier.
In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Lisitza was Petro Lisitza, a Ukrainian Cossack leader who played a role in the Khmelnytsky Uprising against Polish-Lithuanian rule in the mid-1600s. Petro Lisitza was born around 1615 and fought alongside Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a renowned Cossack hetman and the leader of the uprising.
Another historical figure with the surname Lisitza was Hryhoriy Lisitza, a Ukrainian writer and poet who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hryhoriy Lisitza was born in 1783 and is known for his works that celebrated Ukrainian folk traditions and culture.
In the 19th century, Oleksandr Lisitza was a prominent Ukrainian painter and artist. He was born in 1825 and is renowned for his landscapes and portraits depicting rural life in Ukraine.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Olha Lisitza was a Ukrainian educator and activist who fought for the rights of women and advocated for the preservation of Ukrainian language and culture. She was born in 1872 and played a significant role in the Ukrainian cultural renaissance movement.
Lastly, Mykola Lisitza was a Ukrainian writer and playwright who lived in the early 20th century. Born in 1896, he is best known for his satirical works that criticized the Soviet regime's oppression of Ukrainian culture and identity.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lisitza
Among Census respondents with the surname Lisitza, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (5.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Lisitza 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 Lisitza surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.7% · 83
- Two or more races6.1% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 5
- Black or African American2.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lisitza
Lisitza appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,269
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 98
-5 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 965 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,269 | 98 | 0.03 | -5 bearers (-4.9%) | Up 965 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 Lisitza 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 | #157,234 | #156,269 | 0.6% |
| Count | 103 | 98 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 9.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lisitza bearers went from 103 to 98 (-4.9% change). The surname moved up 965 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #156,269.
FAQ
Lisitza surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lisitza?
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the surname Lisitza. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,060,307 residents.
How common is Lisitza?
Lisitza ranks #156,269 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 98 people with the surname Lisitza. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (112), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Lisitza.
Has Lisitza become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lisitza went from 103 recorded bearers to 98. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #156,269.
What does the Census say about the background of Lisitza?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lisitza, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Lisitza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.7% (83 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lisitza appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.7%), Two or More Races (6.1%), Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Lisitza (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 Lisitza mean?
A surname derived from the Russian word for "fox". 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 Lisitza (0.03 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 surname Lisitza?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.