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

Poisson, 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 Poisson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Poisson in America

Poisson is the 15947th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Poisson surname appeared 1,822 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Poisson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Poisson 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 Poisson

The surname Poisson has its origins in France and dates back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "poisson," which means "fish." This name was likely given to someone who worked as a fisherman or a fish seller.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Poisson surname can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners in England compiled in 1086. The name appears as "Piscator," which is the Latin word for "fisherman."

In the 13th century, a notable bearer of the Poisson name was Étienne Poisson, a French mathematician who lived from 1781 to 1840. He made significant contributions to the field of probability theory and is best known for the Poisson distribution, which is widely used in statistics.

Another prominent individual with the Poisson surname was Jacques Poisson, a French painter who lived from 1637 to 1688. He is known for his baroque-style religious paintings, many of which can be found in churches throughout France.

In the 19th century, Siméon Denis Poisson, a French physicist and mathematician, made important contributions to the study of electromagnetism and mechanics. He lived from 1781 to 1840 and is considered one of the leading scientists of his time.

The Poisson name can also be found in historical records related to the French Revolution. Jean-Baptiste Poisson, a politician and mathematician, was a member of the National Convention and played a role in the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792.

During the Middle Ages, the Poisson surname was often associated with the village or town where a person lived. For example, the name "Poisson de Méry" referred to someone from the town of Méry who was involved in the fishing trade.

While the Poisson surname originated in France, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including Canada, where it is particularly common in the French-speaking regions of Quebec and New Brunswick.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Poisson

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

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

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

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