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

Reiss, 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 Reiss surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Reiss in America

Reiss is the 4815th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Reiss surname appeared 7,334 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 Reiss.

We can also compare 2010 data for Reiss 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 Reiss

The surname Reiss is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "rîs" meaning a branch or twig. It is believed to have originated as an occupational name for a basket maker, someone who wove baskets and other wicker products from twigs and branches.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Reiss can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany. It was commonly found in areas such as Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland, where basket making was a prominent occupation among the rural population.

One of the earliest known references to the name Reiss appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the year 1268. This record mentions a certain "Henricus Reiss" who was a resident of the town of Meissen.

In the 14th century, the surname Reiss can be found in the records of the Hanseatic League, a powerful commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe. Several merchants and traders with the name Reiss were involved in the thriving trade networks of the Hanseatic League.

Notable individuals with the surname Reiss throughout history include Johann Reiss (1532-1603), a German botanist and author of the influential work "De Plantis" (On Plants). Another notable figure was Johann Philipp Reiss (1655-1718), a German composer and Kapellmeister at the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

In the 18th century, Johann Georg Reiss (1722-1786) was a renowned German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in the city of Berlin. His son, Johann Christian Reiss (1758-1832), followed in his footsteps and became a prominent architect in his own right.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Reiss was the German painter and printmaker Adolf Reiss (1849-1912), known for his landscapes and cityscapes depicting the modern industrial age. His works are held in various prestigious museums around the world.

The surname Reiss has also been associated with several place names throughout Germany, such as Reissdorf, Reissenbach, and Reisskirchen, which likely derived their names from early settlers with the Reiss surname in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Reiss

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

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

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

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