# Lister (surname)

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

A surname originating as an occupation for a textile dyer.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,350 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,250 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 36,976 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.8% (7,891 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɪstɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Lyster |

## Etymology

English occupational surname from the archaic noun litster (“dyer”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Lister 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) | 79% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

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

## People named Lister

- Tommy Lister Jr., American actor and wrestler (1958–2020)
- Moira Lister, actress (1923-2007)
- Zoe Lister-Jones, American actress, screenwriter and director
- Francis Lister, British actor (1899-1951)
- Alton Lister, American basketball player (born 1958)
- Ernest Lister, American politician (1870-1919)
- Joseph Jackson Lister, British biologist (1857-1927)
- Dean Lister, American martial artist

## Similar surnames

Lester, Lassiter, Laster, Luster, Leister, Lasater, Lasiter, Lichter, Laughter, Lucatero, Lastra, Lasseter.

## 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.