Explore the Family Name Wisby

The meaning of Wisby

English (Middlesex and Essex): habitational name from Whisby in Lincolnshire, named from the Old Norse personal name Hvit (genitive Hvits) + Old Norse bȳ ‘farmstead, village’. Alternatively, a habitational name from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, named from Old English wise ‘river, swamp’ or wisce ‘marshy meadow’, or from the river Wissey (from Old English wise) + bece, bæce ‘stream, valley’.

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

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

The surname Wisby, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, experienced a decline in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, the surname ranked 42,529 in popularity and dropped to rank 47,429 by 2010, marking an 11.52% decrease. The total count of people with this surname also decreased from 480 in 2000 to 447 in 2010, signifying a 6.88% fall. The proportion of people with this surname per 100k decreased by 16.67%, from 0.18 in 2000 to 0.15 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#42,529	#47,429	-11.52%
Count	480	447	-6.88%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.15	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Wisby

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data revealed that the majority of individuals bearing the surname Wisby identified as white, accounting for 87.71% in 2000 and decreasing slightly to 86.80% in 2010. There was no representation of Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year. However, there was a notable increase in those identifying as two or more races, rising from 1.67% in 2000 to 2.01% in 2010. Those identifying as Black rose from 7.92% in 2000 to 8.72% in 2010, while the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic grew from 1.46% to 1.57% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	87.71%	86.8%	-1.04%
Black	7.92%	8.72%	10.1%
Two or More Races	1.67%	2.01%	20.36%
Hispanic	1.46%	1.57%	7.53%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.25%	0%	0%