# Biss (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/biss/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German or Middle English or transferred from the nickname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 775 |
| US rank (2010) | 30,222 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 398,381 people |
| Change since 2000 | -8.0% (842 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Beese |

## Etymology

Two main origins: * English surname from Middle English bis (“dark, murky, gray”), an adjective related to French bis (“beige”) and Italian bigio (“ash gray, dun”). * Borrowed from German Biss (“bite”), a nickname for a cutting, sarcastic person.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Biss in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 96% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.2% |

## Similar surnames

Bass, Bess, Buss, Boss, Bias, Bise, Buis, Bies, Biggs, Bish, Beck, Bush.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.