Explore the Family Name Rist

The meaning of Rist

1. English: most probably a variant of the Yorkshire name Wrest, which is either a nickname from Middle English wrest ‘noble, magnanimous’ or a topographic name from Middle English wrest, wrast ‘something twisted’, perhaps in the sense ‘tangled thicket’. Alternatively, it may be a variant of Rest. 2. German: variant of Ruest.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Rist saw a small decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 14,841, but fell to 15,600 in 2010, a decline of 5.11%. However, the number of people with this surname slightly increased from 1,832 in 2000 to 1,874 in 2010, a modest rise of 2.29%. The proportion of people named Rist per 100,000 also dropped by 5.88% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,841	#15,600	-5.11%
Count	1,832	1,874	2.29%
Proportion per 100k	0.68	0.64	-5.88%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rist

Regarding ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates some changes in the ethnic identities associated with the Rist surname between 2000 and 2010. The most significant increase was seen in the Hispanic category, which rose by 110.58%, followed by the Asian/Pacific Islander group that grew by 94.55%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as White remained fairly stable, decreasing only slightly from 93.45% to 93.12%. The categories for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native, however, declined by 31.71% and 57.89% respectively. The proportion of people with the Rist surname who identified as two or more races also decreased, falling by 14.79%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.45%	93.12%	-0.35%
Two or More Races	2.57%	2.19%	-14.79%
Hispanic	1.04%	2.19%	110.58%
Black	1.64%	1.12%	-31.71%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.55%	1.07%	94.55%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.76%	0.32%	-57.89%