Explore the Family Name Riser

The meaning of Riser

1. Swiss German: topographic name for someone who lived near a thicket or underbrush, from an agent noun based on Middle High German rīs ‘branch, shrubbery’. 2. Possibly an Americanized form of German Reiser.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Riser has seen a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the name dropped from 11,484 to 12,566, marking a decrease of 9.42%. In terms of count, there were 2,515 individuals with the surname Riser in 2000, which fell slightly to 2,463 by 2010 - this reflects a drop of 2.07%. Furthermore, the proportion of people named Riser per 100,000 population also decreased from 0.93 to 0.83 over that decade, marking a decline of 10.75%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,484	#12,566	-9.42%
Count	2,515	2,463	-2.07%
Proportion per 100k	0.93	0.83	-10.75%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Riser

Regarding the ethnic identities associated with the surname Riser, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows subtle shifts between 2000 and 2010. For instance, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native disappeared within this timeframe. However, individuals identifying with two or more ethnicities increased their representation among Risers from 1.35% to 1.71%, a rise of 26.67%. Notably, the Hispanic ethnicity saw the largest increase, going from 0.76% to 1.38%, an impressive growth of 81.58%. Meanwhile, Whites remained the dominant group, even though their share slightly declined from 75.63% to 74.34%. Blacks also witnessed a minor increase in their representation, from 21.87% to 22.25%, a modest rise of 1.74%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	75.63%	74.34%	-1.71%
Black	21.87%	22.25%	1.74%
Two or More Races	1.35%	1.71%	26.67%
Hispanic	0.76%	1.38%	81.58%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.2%	0%	0%