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

Wisniewski, 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 Wisniewski surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wisniewski in America

Wisniewski is the 2846th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wisniewski surname appeared 12,675 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Wisniewski.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wisniewski 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 Wisniewski

The surname Wisniewski originated in Poland and has been around since the 15th century. It is derived from the Polish word "wisnia," meaning cherry, suggesting that the name's bearers may have been involved in growing or trading cherries. The name can be traced back to the region of Greater Poland, particularly the areas around the cities of Poznan and Gniezno.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wisniewski can be found in the Ksiega Ławnicza Miasta Poznania, a legal record book from the city of Poznan, dating back to the late 15th century. The entry mentions a certain Jan Wisniewski, who was involved in a legal dispute over a property matter.

In the 16th century, the name appears in various church records and tax registers throughout Greater Poland. For example, the parish records of the town of Koscian from 1564 list a Bartosz Wisniewski among the local residents.

The name Wisniewski has also been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One such person was Stanisław Wisniewski (1677-1749), a Polish Catholic priest and writer who authored several religious texts and served as a canon in the Diocese of Poznan.

Another prominent figure with this surname was Aleksander Wisniewski (1808-1895), a Polish mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the fields of differential equations and celestial mechanics. He held a professorship at the University of Warsaw and was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In the 19th century, the name Wisniewski can be found in various records related to the Polish uprisings against Russian and Prussian rule. One such individual was Walenty Wisniewski (1837-1865), a Polish patriot and participant in the January Uprising of 1863-1864 against the Russian Empire.

Other notable individuals with the surname Wisniewski include Michał Wisniewski (1858-1892), a Polish writer and journalist who was a prominent figure in the Poznań literary scene of the late 19th century, and Bronisław Wisniewski (1876-1943), a Polish engineer and inventor who held several patents for various technological innovations.

While the surname Wisniewski is most commonly associated with Poland, it has also been found in other Slavic countries, particularly in areas with historical Polish settlements or connections, such as parts of modern-day Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wisniewski

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

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

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

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