How common is the surname Bannister?

8,639 people in the United States had the surname Bannister in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 35,739 Americans. It ranked 4,105th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Bannister?

Edward Mitchell Bannister, Black Canadian-American visual artist (1828-1901), followed by Reggie Bannister.

Where is the surname Bannister most common?

Wikidata records people named Bannister in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Bannister getting more or less common?

More common. 8,110 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,639 in 2010, up 6.5%.

The surname Bannister

An occupational surname, carried by 8,639 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex B523

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Bannister is more common than 97.5% of them.

Origin

English surname of Norman origin, from the archaic noun banaste (“basket, wickerwork”); see banne (“wicker basket”). Not related to banister.

Bannister is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,639 people named Bannister in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 35,739 Americans. That is up 6.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 8,110.

#4,105

rank among US surnames

8,639

people in 2010

2.9

per 100,000 Americans

+6.5%

change since 2000 (was #4,019)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,096	Brittain	8,671	35,607
#4,098	Gurley	8,669	35,615
#4,099	Samples	8,663	35,640
#4,100	Boothe	8,656	35,668
#4,101	Freeland	8,653	35,681
#4,102	Fusco	8,650	35,693
#4,103	Parada	8,649	35,697

Who is named Bannister

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

69% of people named Bannister identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 69%
Black (not Hispanic) 23%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.1%
Two or more races 2.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Bannisters

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Edward Mitchell Bannister
Black Canadian-American visual artist (1828-1901)
Reggie Bannister
American musician, actor and director, 1945–2026
Alan Bannister
British cyclist (1922-2007)
Ken Bannister
American basketball player (born 1960)
Trevor Bannister
British actor (1934-2011)
Harry Bannister
American actor (1889-1961)

Notable Bannisters come mostly from the United States (4), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Bannister

Banister

Bannister has the Soundex code B523, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B523.

Questions

Where does the surname Bannister come from?: English surname of Norman origin, from the archaic noun banaste (“basket, wickerwork”); see banne (“wicker basket”). Not related to banister.
How common is the surname Bannister?: 8,639 people in the United States had the surname Bannister in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 35,739 Americans. It ranked 4,105th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Bannister?: In the 2010 Census, 69% of people named Bannister identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Bannister?: Edward Mitchell Bannister, Black Canadian-American visual artist (1828-1901), followed by Reggie Bannister.
Where is the surname Bannister most common?: Wikidata records people named Bannister in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom.
What type of surname is Bannister?: Bannister is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Bannister getting more or less common?: More common. 8,110 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,639 in 2010, up 6.5%.