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

Ristow, 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 Ristow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ristow in America

Ristow is the 22012th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ristow surname appeared 1,178 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 Ristow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ristow 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 Ristow

The surname RISTOW has its origins in Germany, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the late 16th century. The name is believed to be derived from the old Germanic word "rist," which means a rocky or stony place, suggesting that the name may have initially referred to individuals who lived in or near such terrain.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hans Ristow, a farmer from the village of Schöneberg, near Berlin, who was mentioned in municipal records from 1592. It is believed that the name may have also been associated with the town of Ristow, located in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which could have been the place of origin for some families bearing this surname.

In the 17th century, the name appears in various historical documents, including church registers and land records. Johann Ristow, born in 1634, was a prominent figure in the town of Güstrow, where he served as a councilman and magistrate. Another notable individual was Peter Ristow, a merchant from Rostock, whose name was recorded in trade documents from the late 1600s.

As the centuries progressed, the surname RISTOW spread across various regions of Germany and beyond. In the 19th century, several individuals with this name made significant contributions in various fields. Carl Ristow (1812-1888) was a respected German geographer and cartographer, known for his work in mapping regions of Africa and Asia. Friedrich Ristow (1835-1908) was a renowned German architect who designed several notable buildings in Berlin and other cities.

Other notable bearers of the RISTOW name include Gustav Ristow (1860-1942), a German-American journalist and publisher who founded the influential German-language newspaper "New Yorker Staats-Zeitung," and Hans Ristow (1892-1971), a German military officer who served in both World Wars and later became a writer and historian.

While the name RISTOW is predominantly found in Germany, it has also been carried by individuals in other parts of Europe and the Americas, likely due to migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ristow

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!