2000
#9,774
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,053
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.13
Rare Last name
Risinger
An occupational surname referring to someone who harvests or processes rice.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,133 Americans carry the last name Risinger. That puts it at #11,088 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.91 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 109,401 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Risinger surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.1K
1 in 109,401
Census rank
#11,088
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,732 bearers of the surname Risinger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.91 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11088th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Risinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Risinger
The surname Risinger is of German origin, believed to have originated in the region of Bavaria in the late medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century. It is derived from the Old German word "ris," meaning a branch or twig, and the suffix "-inger," which denotes a place of origin or residence. Therefore, the name Risinger likely referred to someone who lived near a thicket or wooded area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Risinger can be found in the historical town records of Regensburg, Bavaria, dated 1437, which mentions a certain Hans Risinger. Another early reference is in the parish registers of Nuremberg, where a Konrad Risinger was documented in 1482.
In the 16th century, the Risinger name appeared in various parts of southern Germany, particularly in the regions of Franconia and Swabia. Notable individuals from this period include Johann Risinger, a merchant from Ulm who was born in 1523, and Magdalena Risinger, a midwife from Rothenburg ob der Tauber, born in 1578.
As the surname spread across German-speaking lands, variations in spelling arose, such as Riesinger, Riesinger, and Risinger. In the 17th century, a branch of the family settled in the area around Heidelberg, where a certain Wilhelm Risinger was recorded as a cooper (barrel maker) in 1644.
One of the earliest known Risingers to emigrate from Germany was Hans Risinger, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 as part of the German immigration to British North America. He settled in the area that later became Berks County, and his descendants can be traced through various historical records in the region.
Among the notable Risingers in later history are Johann Gottfried Risinger (1768-1843), a German theologian and author, and Friedrich Wilhelm Risinger (1810-1892), a German-American artist and lithographer who worked in Philadelphia.
Overall, the surname Risinger has a long and rich history, originating in the forests of medieval Bavaria and spreading across German-speaking regions before eventually reaching the Americas through immigration in the 18th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Risinger
Among Census respondents with the surname Risinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Risinger bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Risinger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 2,515
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 98
- Two or more races2.7% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 14
- Black or African American0.4% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Risinger
Risinger appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,085
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,196
+143 bearers (+4.7%)
Per 100,000 1.08
Rank movement Down 311 places
2020
#11,088
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,732
-464 bearers (-14.5%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 1,003 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,774 | 3,053 | 1.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,085 | 3,196 | 1.08 | +143 bearers (+4.7%) | Down 311 places |
| 2020 | #11,088 | 2,732 | 0.91 | -464 bearers (-14.5%) | Down 1,003 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Risinger surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,085 | #11,088 | -9.9% |
| Count | 3,196 | 2,732 | -14.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.08 | 0.91 | -15.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Risinger bearers went from 3,196 to 2,732 (-14.5% change). The surname moved down 1,003 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,085 to #11,088.
FAQ
Risinger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Risinger?
Name Census estimates that about 3,133 living Americans carry the surname Risinger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 109,401 residents.
How common is Risinger?
Risinger ranks #11,088 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.91 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,732 people with the surname Risinger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,133), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.91 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.91 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Risinger.
Has Risinger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Risinger went from 3,196 recorded bearers to 2,732. That is a decrease of 464 (-14.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,085 to #11,088.
What does the Census say about the background of Risinger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Risinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Risinger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (2,515 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Risinger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (2.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Risinger (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Risinger mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who harvests or processes rice. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Risinger (0.91 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Risinger?
Want to know how many people have the last name Risinger? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.