2000
#125,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 126
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Paist
An archaic German surname derived from the Latin word "pista" meaning baker or miller.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Paist. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Paist 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Paist in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Paist, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Paist
The surname Paist is believed to have originated in Germany, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. The name is thought to be derived from the Old German word "peist," which referred to a person who lived near a pasture or meadow.
One of the earliest known records of the name Paist can be found in the Codex Diplomatus, a medieval collection of documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. In this document, a man named Heinrich Paist is mentioned as a landowner in the village of Rottendorf.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Paist name appeared in various records across central and southern Germany, including the cities of Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Munich. Some of these records indicate that the name was sometimes spelled as "Peist" or "Payst."
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the Paist surname was Johann Paist, a Lutheran theologian and reformer born in Erfurt in 1515. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther and played a significant role in the spread of the Protestant Reformation in central Germany.
Another prominent individual with the Paist name was Friedrich Paist, a German artist and engraver who lived in the late 18th century. Born in Nuremberg in 1765, his intricate etchings and engravings depicting landscapes and architectural scenes were highly acclaimed during his lifetime.
The Paist surname also found its way to other parts of Europe, including France and the Netherlands. In the 19th century, a Dutch painter named Willem Paist gained recognition for his landscapes and portraits. He was born in Amsterdam in 1820 and lived until 1897.
While the name Paist may have originated in Germany, it has been carried across continents by families migrating to different parts of the world over the centuries. Some notable individuals with this surname include Hans Paist, a German-American entrepreneur who founded the Paist Cymbal Company in the mid-20th century, and Elizabeth Paist, an American author and playwright born in 1928.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paist
Among Census respondents with the surname Paist, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Paist 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 Paist surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 102
- Two or more races4.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 3
- Black or African American1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Paist
Paist 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
#153,769
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-20 bearers (-15.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 28,130 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+6 bearers (+5.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 5,815 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #125,639 | 126 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #153,769 | 106 | 0.04 | -20 bearers (-15.9%) | Down 28,130 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.7%) | Up 5,815 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 Paist 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 | #153,769 | #147,954 | 3.8% |
| Count | 106 | 112 | 5.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Paist bearers went from 106 to 112 (+5.7% change). The surname moved up 5,815 positions in the national ranking, going from #153,769 to #147,954.
FAQ
Paist surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Paist?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Paist. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Paist?
Paist ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 112 people with the surname Paist. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Paist.
Has Paist become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Paist went from 106 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 6 (+5.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #153,769 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Paist?
Among Census respondents with the surname Paist, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). 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 Paist in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Paist appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.1%), Two or More Races (4.5%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). 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 Paist (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 Paist mean?
An archaic German surname derived from the Latin word "pista" meaning baker or miller. 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 Paist (0.04 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 common is the surname Paist?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Paist, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.