2000
#7,482
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,105
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.52
Rare Last name
Wisner
A surname of German origin, referring to someone from the town of Weißenau or having white hair.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,317 Americans carry the last name Wisner. That puts it at #8,425 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.26 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 79,396 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wisner 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
4.3K
1 in 79,396
Census rank
#8,425
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,765 bearers of the surname Wisner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.26 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8425th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wisner, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Black (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wisner
The surname Wisner is of German origin and dates back to the 16th century. It is derived from the German word "wiese," which means "meadow" or "pasture." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a meadow or worked as a farmer or herdsman.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various German-speaking regions, particularly in the areas surrounding modern-day Bavaria and Saxony. Some of the earliest known bearers of the name include Hans Wisner, a landowner in Nuremberg in the late 1500s, and Johann Wisner, a merchant from Leipzig in the early 1600s.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name began to spread more widely across Europe as German immigrants and settlers moved to other regions. One notable early bearer of the name was Johann Christoph Wisner (1679-1752), a German theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Jena.
As the name spread, it also underwent various spelling variations, such as Wiesner, Wisener, and Wissner. These variations likely reflect regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.
Over the centuries, the Wisner surname has been associated with several notable individuals across various fields. These include:
1. Henry Wisner (1720-1790), an American lawyer and politician who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention.
2. Moses Wisner (1742-1813), an American military officer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
3. Benjamin B. Wisner (1786-1865), an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.
4. Samuel Wisner (1822-1900), an American businessman and politician who served as the 25th Governor of Michigan from 1859 to 1861.
5. Henry Wisner Hilliard (1808-1892), an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Representative from Alabama and later as the United States Minister to Brazil.
While the name has its roots in Germany, it has since become widely dispersed across various parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant German immigration and settlement.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wisner
Among Census respondents with the surname Wisner, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Black (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Wisner 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 Wisner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.3% · 3,325
- Two or more races3.7% · 140
- Black or African American3.5% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 122
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wisner
Wisner 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
#7,725
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,296
+191 bearers (+4.7%)
Per 100,000 1.46
Rank movement Down 243 places
2020
#8,425
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,765
-531 bearers (-12.4%)
Per 100,000 1.26
Rank movement Down 700 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,482 | 4,105 | 1.52 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,725 | 4,296 | 1.46 | +191 bearers (+4.7%) | Down 243 places |
| 2020 | #8,425 | 3,765 | 1.26 | -531 bearers (-12.4%) | Down 700 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 Wisner 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 | #7,725 | #8,425 | -9.1% |
| Count | 4,296 | 3,765 | -12.4% |
| Per 100K | 1.46 | 1.26 | -13.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wisner bearers went from 4,296 to 3,765 (-12.4% change). The surname moved down 700 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,725 to #8,425.
FAQ
Wisner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wisner?
Name Census estimates that about 4,317 living Americans carry the surname Wisner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 79,396 residents.
How common is Wisner?
Wisner ranks #8,425 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.26 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 3,765 people with the surname Wisner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,317), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.26 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.26 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 Wisner.
Has Wisner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wisner went from 4,296 recorded bearers to 3,765. That is a decrease of 531 (-12.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,725 to #8,425.
What does the Census say about the background of Wisner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wisner, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Wisner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (3,325 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wisner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.3%), Two or More Races (3.7%), Black (3.5%). 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 Wisner (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 Wisner mean?
A surname of German origin, referring to someone from the town of Weißenau or having white hair. 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 Wisner (1.26 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 surname Wisner?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.