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

Wiese, 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 Wiese surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wiese in America

Wiese is the 3817th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wiese surname appeared 9,287 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Wiese.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wiese 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 Wiese

The surname WIESE originated in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Middle Low German word "wise," meaning meadow or pasture. This name would have been given to someone who lived near or worked on a meadow.

The name WIESE was most prevalent in northern Germany, particularly in the regions of Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hamburg. It is found in various historical records from these areas, including parish registers and tax rolls.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Wiese, a landowner mentioned in a document from the city of Lübeck in 1268. Another early record is that of Hinrik Wiese, a merchant from Bremen who is listed in the city's trade records in 1342.

The WIESE name is also found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city of Bremen, with entries dating back to the 14th century.

In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Johann Wiese, a Protestant theologian and reformer from Lübeck (1516-1589). He was a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation in northern Germany.

Another historical figure with the surname WIESE was Friedrich von Wiese (1708-1783), a Prussian general who served in the Seven Years' War under Frederick the Great.

In the 19th century, Christian Samuel Carl Wiese (1798-1872) was a German botanist and author who published several works on the flora of Germany.

The name WIESE has also been associated with various place names in northern Germany, such as Wiesenfeld, Wiesenburg, and Wiesenau, which may have influenced the spread and variation of the surname.

Throughout its history, the WIESE surname has been spelled in various ways, including Wiese, Wies, Wies, and Wiesen, reflecting regional differences in dialect and pronunciation.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wiese

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

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

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

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