2000
#116,123
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 139
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Stish
A shortened form of the surname Stischer, possibly of German origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Stish. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Stish 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.
Bearers in the US
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Stish in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Stish, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Stish
The surname STISH is believed to have originated in Germany during the early medieval period, around the 8th or 9th century. It is thought to have derived from the Old High German word "stih," meaning a post or stake, suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone living near a boundary marker or a fence made of stakes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name STISH can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a person named Sticho is mentioned in a document dated to the year 836. This is likely a variant spelling of the same name.
Another early record of the name appears in the Traditiones Fuldenses, a cartulary of the Benedictine abbey of Fulda in central Germany, which includes an entry from the year 871 referring to a person named Stihhari.
In the 11th century, the name STISH is found in the Codex Eberhardi, a manuscript from the Benedictine abbey of Reichenau in present-day Baden-Württemberg, where a person named Sticho is listed among the donors to the abbey.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname STISH was Konrad Stish, a landowner and knight who lived in the region of Franconia in the late 12th century. His name is mentioned in several charters and records from that time.
Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Stish, a scholar and theologian who lived in the late 15th century. He was born in the town of Erfurt in central Germany in 1452 and later became a professor at the University of Leipzig, where he taught until his death in 1516.
In the 16th century, the name STISH appears in various records from the region of Swabia in southwestern Germany. One example is Hans Stish, a farmer and landowner from the town of Riedlingen, who is mentioned in tax records from the year 1543.
The surname STISH also has variants and similar spellings, such as Stisch, Stisser, and Stissinger, which can be found in historical documents from different parts of Germany and neighboring regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stish
Among Census respondents with the surname Stish, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Stish 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 Stish surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Stish
Stish 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
#137,327
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
-17 bearers (-12.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 21,204 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-7 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,430 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #116,123 | 139 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #137,327 | 122 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-12.2%) | Down 21,204 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 8,430 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 Stish 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 | #137,327 | #145,757 | -6.1% |
| Count | 122 | 115 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Stish bearers went from 122 to 115 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 8,430 positions in the national ranking, going from #137,327 to #145,757.
FAQ
Stish surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Stish?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Stish. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Stish?
Stish ranks #145,757 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 115 people with the surname Stish. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Stish.
Has Stish become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Stish went from 122 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #137,327 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Stish?
Among Census respondents with the surname Stish, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). 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 Stish in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Stish appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.9%), Hispanic (2.6%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). 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 Stish (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 Stish mean?
A shortened form of the surname Stischer, possibly of German origin. 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 Stish (0.04 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 common is the surname Stish?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Stish at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.