2000
#10,900
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,680
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.99
Rare Last name
Whisman
An occupational surname referring to a whistleblower or a person who reports wrongdoing.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,869 Americans carry the last name Whisman. That puts it at #11,946 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.84 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 119,468 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Whisman 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
2.9K
1 in 119,468
Census rank
#11,946
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,502 bearers of the surname Whisman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.84 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11946th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Whisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Whisman
The surname WHISMAN is of English origin, dating back to the medieval period in the region of Buckinghamshire. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "hwispr" and "mann," which translates to "a whispering man" or "a man who whispers." This could have been a descriptive surname given to someone known for their soft-spoken or discreet nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name WHISMAN can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Buckinghamshire from 1198, where a person named Robert Whisman is mentioned as a landowner. This suggests that the name had already established itself as a surname by the late 12th century.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as "Whyssman" and "Whysemon," which further solidifies its origins from the Old English words. A notable example is John Whyssman, a merchant from Winchester who was mentioned in the Borough Court Rolls of 1285.
The WHISMAN surname also has connections to place names in Buckinghamshire, such as the village of Weston Turville, which was once known as "Wistanestune" in the Domesday Book of 1086. This could suggest that some WHISMAN families may have derived their name from this location.
In the 16th century, the name WHISMAN gained prominence with the birth of Sir Thomas WHISMAN (1515-1589), a prominent politician and Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Other notable individuals with the surname WHISMAN include:
1. William WHISMAN (1678-1742), a wealthy merchant and landowner in Berkshire.
2. Mary WHISMAN (1720-1798), a pioneer settler in colonial Virginia and one of the first English settlers in the Shenandoah Valley.
3. John WHISMAN (1765-1834), an American Revolutionary War veteran and early settler in Ohio.
4. Samuel WHISMAN (1812-1887), a successful businessman and philanthropist from Pennsylvania, known for establishing the WHISMAN Foundation for Education.
5. Elizabeth WHISMAN (1845-1923), a noted author and poet from New York, whose works focused on themes of nature and rural life.
While the WHISMAN name may have evolved in spelling and pronunciation over the centuries, its roots can be traced back to the Old English language and the medieval counties of England, particularly Buckinghamshire, where it first emerged as a distinctive surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Whisman
Among Census respondents with the surname Whisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Whisman 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 Whisman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 2,350
- Two or more races2.8% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 50
- Black or African American0.6% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Whisman
Whisman 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
#11,430
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,756
+76 bearers (+2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.93
Rank movement Down 530 places
2020
#11,946
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,502
-254 bearers (-9.2%)
Per 100,000 0.84
Rank movement Down 516 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,900 | 2,680 | 0.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,430 | 2,756 | 0.93 | +76 bearers (+2.8%) | Down 530 places |
| 2020 | #11,946 | 2,502 | 0.84 | -254 bearers (-9.2%) | Down 516 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 Whisman 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 | #11,430 | #11,946 | -4.5% |
| Count | 2,756 | 2,502 | -9.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.93 | 0.84 | -10.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Whisman bearers went from 2,756 to 2,502 (-9.2% change). The surname moved down 516 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,430 to #11,946.
FAQ
Whisman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Whisman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,869 living Americans carry the surname Whisman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 119,468 residents.
How common is Whisman?
Whisman ranks #11,946 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.84 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,502 people with the surname Whisman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,869), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.84 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.84 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Whisman.
Has Whisman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Whisman went from 2,756 recorded bearers to 2,502. That is a decrease of 254 (-9.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,430 to #11,946.
What does the Census say about the background of Whisman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Whisman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Whisman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (2,350 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Whisman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.9%), Two or More Races (2.8%), Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Whisman (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 Whisman mean?
An occupational surname referring to a whistleblower or a person who reports wrongdoing. 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 Whisman (0.84 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 people have the last name Whisman?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Whisman, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.