Explore the Family Name Wais

The meaning of Wais

Americanized form of German Weiss. Some characteristic forenames: German Florian, Lorenz, Uwe.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Wais saw a small decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, it was ranked 52,608 among all surnames in the United States, slipping slightly to rank 53,072 in 2010. This represents a change of -0.88%. The total count of individuals with this surname increased from 370 in 2000 to 390 in 2010, marking a growth of 5.41%. However, as a proportion per 100,000 people, the frequency of the Wais surname decreased by 7.14%, going from 0.14 in 2000 to 0.13 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#52,608	#53,072	-0.88%
Count	370	390	5.41%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.13	-7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Wais

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some shifts for individuals with the Wais surname over this decade. The percentage of those identifying as White decreased slightly from 90% in 2000 to 85.38% in 2010. Individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander also decreased, dropping significantly from 3.24% in 2000 to 1.54% in 2010. On the other hand, there was a notable increase in those identifying as Black, jumping from 3.24% in 2000 to 10.51% in 2010. Interestingly, there were no recorded individuals with the Wais surname who identified as Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native during both census years. The category of Two or more races was represented in 2000 at 2.43%, but had no representation in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	90%	85.38%	-5.13%
Black	3.24%	10.51%	224.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.24%	1.54%	-52.47%
Two or More Races	2.43%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%