Explore the Family Name Raisbeck

The meaning of Raisbeck

English (northern): habitational name from Rais Beck in Orton or Raise Beck in Grasmere (both in Westmorland), two rivers which take their names from Dunmail Raise (a cairn in Cumberland named with Old Norse hreysi ‘cairn’) + Old Norse bekkr ‘stream’, or from Raisbeck in Upleatham (North Yorkshire), which derives from Old Norse rá ‘roe, roe buck’ + bekkr. The North Yorkshire placename is recorded in Middle English as Rabec and its modern local form is Raybeck, so the -s- is unhistorical. However, it is possible that the two pronunciations were interchangeable.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Raisbeck in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Raisbeck was ranked 49,366 in popularity in 2000 and dropped to 50,362 by 2010, indicating a slight decrease of just over 2%. In terms of count, there were around 400 individuals with the Raisbeck surname in 2000, which increased to approximately 415 by 2010 – a modest increase of 3.75%. The proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 people also decreased slightly from 0.15 in 2000 to 0.14 in 2010, showing a 6.67% drop.

20002010Change
Rank#49,366#50,362-2.02%
Count4004153.75%
Proportion per 100k0.150.14-6.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Raisbeck

When it comes to ethnicity according to the Decennial U.S. Census information, the Raisbeck surname is predominantly associated with individuals identifying as White, with 93.75% in 2000 and 93.49% in 2010 - a marginal change of just 0.28%. Other ethnic identities linked with the Raisbeck surname include those identifying as Hispanic (3% in 2000 declining to 2.17% in 2010), and those belonging to two or more races (2% in 2000 down to 1.69% in 2010). Interestingly, there was a new appearance of individuals with the Raisbeck surname identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, while the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander and Black remained at zero in both the years.

20002010Change
White93.75%93.49%-0.28%
Hispanic3%2.17%-27.67%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%2.17%0%
Two or More Races2%1.69%-15.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
Black0%0%0%