Explore the Family Name Risen

The meaning of Risen

Americanized form of German and Swiss German Riesen. History: The first recorded bearer of the surname Risen was John Risen, born in VA c.1730. His origin is not known, but later immigrants with the surname Risen were from Germany or Switzerland.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Risen saw a decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 34,150th among all surnames but fell to 40,554th in 2010, marking a decline of about 18.75%. The count of individuals with the surname also dropped from 628 in 2000 to 539 in 2010, representing a reduction of 14.17%. Consequently, the proportion of people bearing the surname Risen per 100,000 US residents diminished by 21.74%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#34,150	#40,554	-18.75%
Count	628	539	-14.17%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.18	-21.74%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Risen

Regarding ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of the bearers of the surname Risen identify as White, accounting for 93.32% in 2010, albeit a slight reduction from 93.95% in 2000. There were no records of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaskan Native. The percentage of those identifying as Black decreased by 30.13%, falling from 2.39% in 2000 to 1.67% in 2010. However, the proportion of individuals identifying with two or more races increased by 55.94%, up from 1.43% in 2000 to 2.23% in 2010. Additionally, there was a small increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 1.43% in 2000 to 1.67% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.95%	93.32%	-0.67%
Two or More Races	1.43%	2.23%	55.94%
Hispanic	1.43%	1.67%	16.78%
Black	2.39%	1.67%	-30.13%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%