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

Rison, 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 Rison surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rison in America

Rison is the 30165th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rison surname appeared 777 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Rison.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rison 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 Rison

The surname Rison has its origins in England, where it is thought to have emerged in the late 12th century or early 13th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "rison," meaning "a twig" or "a small branch." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname initially given to someone who worked with twigs or branches, such as a basket weaver or a thatcher.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rison can be found in the Feet of Fines for Essex, a collection of legal documents from the reign of King John (1199-1216). In these records, a person named Adam Rison is mentioned as holding land in the county of Essex.

The Rison surname is also found in the Subsidy Rolls for Cambridgeshire from 1327, which were tax records compiled during the reign of Edward III. This suggests that the name was well-established in various parts of England by the 14th century.

A notable early bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Rison, who lived in the late 15th century and served as a member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1491. Another early example is John Rison, a merchant from Bristol, who is recorded as having traded with Spain in the early 16th century.

In the 17th century, the name Rison appears to have been particularly concentrated in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. One example from this period is Richard Rison, a prominent landowner from Norfolk, who was born in 1620 and died in 1689.

Moving into the 18th century, the Rison surname is associated with the village of Weston Longville in Norfolk. Here, a family by the name of Rison held significant landholdings and influence in the local community. A notable member of this family was John Rison (1719-1795), a wealthy landowner and magistrate.

While the Rison surname may have originated as an occupational name, it is clear that by the 16th and 17th centuries, many bearers of the name had achieved significant social status and landholdings, particularly in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rison

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

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

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

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