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

Wishart, 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 Wishart surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wishart in America

Wishart is the 15238th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wishart surname appeared 1,930 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Wishart.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wishart 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 Wishart

The surname Wishart originated in Scotland, deriving its name from the parish of Wishart in Forfarshire. The earliest recorded spelling is Wischard, found in the records of the Abbey of Arbroath in 1204. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "wisc" meaning a meadow or low-lying fertile land, and "hard" meaning hardy or brave.

The name Wishart appeared in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish landowners and lairds who swore allegiance to Edward I of England. One notable bearer was Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow from 1272 to 1316, who played a significant role in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

In the 14th century, George Wishart (c.1513-1546) was a Protestant reformer and preacher who was a follower of John Knox. He was burned at the stake in St. Andrews for heresy, becoming a martyr of the Scottish Reformation. His execution is said to have influenced the young John Knox to join the Protestant cause.

The Wisharts were a prominent Scottish family, with several members holding important positions in the church and government. Sir John Wishart (c.1609-1676) was a Scottish judge and member of the Privy Council of Scotland during the reign of Charles II.

In the literary world, William Wishart (1691-1753) was a Scottish poet and playwright, best known for his tragedy "The Monk of Dingwall" and his satire "The Caledonian Bard". Another notable bearer was Robert Wishart (1758-1830), a Scottish minister and biographer who wrote a memoir of George Buchanan, a prominent Scottish humanist scholar.

The name Wishart has also been associated with places in Scotland, such as Wishart Hill in Aberdeenshire and the village of Wishart in Angus. The Wishart Arms, a public house in Edinburgh, was named after the family and has been a landmark since the 17th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wishart

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Wishart, 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!