2000
#4,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,072
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.62
Rare Last name
Reiss
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who traveled frequently, from the German word "reisen" meaning "to travel."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,734 Americans carry the last name Reiss. That puts it at #5,041 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.26 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 44,318 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Reiss 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Reiss with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.7K
1 in 44,318
Census rank
#5,041
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,744 bearers of the surname Reiss in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.26 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5041st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Reiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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One of the earliest known references to the name Reiss appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the year 1268.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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reiss
Among Census respondents with the surname Reiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Reiss 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 Reiss surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 6,208
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 230
- Two or more races2.6% · 178
- Black or African American0.8% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Reiss
Reiss 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
#4,815
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,334
+262 bearers (+3.7%)
Per 100,000 2.49
Rank movement Down 225 places
2020
#5,041
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,744
-590 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 2.26
Rank movement Down 226 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,590 | 7,072 | 2.62 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,815 | 7,334 | 2.49 | +262 bearers (+3.7%) | Down 225 places |
| 2020 | #5,041 | 6,744 | 2.26 | -590 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 226 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 Reiss 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 | #4,815 | #5,041 | -4.7% |
| Count | 7,334 | 6,744 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 2.49 | 2.26 | -9.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Reiss bearers went from 7,334 to 6,744 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 226 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,815 to #5,041.
FAQ
Reiss surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Reiss?
Name Census estimates that about 7,734 living Americans carry the surname Reiss. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 44,318 residents.
How common is Reiss?
Reiss ranks #5,041 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.26 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,744 people with the surname Reiss. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,734), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.26 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.26 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Reiss.
Has Reiss become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Reiss went from 7,334 recorded bearers to 6,744. That is a decrease of 590 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,815 to #5,041.
What does the Census say about the background of Reiss?
Among Census respondents with the surname Reiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Reiss in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (6,208 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Reiss appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Reiss (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 Reiss mean?
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who traveled frequently, from the German word "reisen" meaning "to travel." 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 Reiss (2.26 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 Americans have the surname Reiss?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.