Explore the Family Name Riston

The meaning of Riston

1. English: habitational name from Long Riston (East Yorkshire), North and South Reston (Lincolnshire), and East and Sco Ruston (Norfolk). The placenames derive from Old English hrīs ‘brushwood’ + tūn ‘farmstead, estate’. The name may sometimes have been confused with Ritson. 2. English: occasional variant of Rushton. 3. Scottish: habitational name from Reston in Coldingham (Berwickshire), cognate with 1 above.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Riston has seen a slight increase. In 2000, Riston was ranked as the 76,700th most popular name in the United States, with a count of just 233. However, by 2010, the rank slightly improved to 75,564, and the count increased by 9.44% to reach 255. The proportion per 100,000 people remained constant at 0.09 over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#76,700	#75,564	1.48%
Count	233	255	9.44%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.09	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Riston

As for the ethnic identity associated with the surname Riston, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that it's predominantly linked to White and Black ethnicities. In 2000, about 83.26% of individuals with the Riston surname identified as White, but this figure decreased to 80.00% by 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Black saw an increase from 14.59% to 17.65% during the same period. No individuals with the Riston surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	83.26%	80%	-3.92%
Black	14.59%	17.65%	20.97%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%