How common is the surname Weiss?

57,112 people in the United States had the surname Weiss in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,406 Americans. It ranked 587th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Weiss?

In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Weiss identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Weiss?

Rainer Weiss, American physicist (1932–2025), followed by D. B. Weiss.

Where is the surname Weiss most common?

Wikidata records people named Weiss in the United States, Austria and Poland and 1 other country.

Is the surname Weiss getting more or less common?

More common. 56,153 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 57,112 in 2010, up 1.7%.

The surname Weiss

A German surname, carried by 57,112 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex W200

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Weiss is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Weiß.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 57,112 people named Weiss in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,406 Americans. That is up 1.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 56,153.

#587

rank among US surnames

57,112

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.7%

change since 2000 (was #531)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#578	Rangel	57,549	5,365
#580	Hoover	57,497	5,370
#581	Arias	57,477	5,372
#583	Mora	57,464	5,373
#584	Valenzuela	57,383	5,380
#585	Bryan	57,143	5,403
#586	Meyers	57,127	5,405

Who is named Weiss

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

96% of people named Weiss identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 96%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Weisss

27 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Rainer Weiss
American physicist (1932–2025)
D. B. Weiss
American writer and producer, born 1971
Brian Weiss
American psychiatrist, born 1944
Bari Weiss
American television executive, born 1984
Edmund Weiss
Austrian astronomer (1837-1917)
Shevah Weiss
11th Speaker of the Knesset (1935–2023)
Michael T. Weiss
American actor, born 1962
Max Weiss
Austrian chess player (1857–1927)
George David Weiss
American songwriter and arranger; President of the Songwriters Guild of America (1921-2010
Janet Weiss
American drummer, born 1965
Bob Weiss
American basketball player and coach, born 1942
Mary Weiss
American pop music vocalist (1948–2024)

Notable Weisss come mostly from the United States (18), Austria (5) and Poland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Weiss

Weiss has the Soundex code W200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W200.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Weiss come from?: Borrowed from German Weiß.
How common is the surname Weiss?: 57,112 people in the United States had the surname Weiss in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,406 Americans. It ranked 587th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Weiss?: In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Weiss identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Weiss?: Rainer Weiss, American physicist (1932–2025), followed by D. B. Weiss.
Where is the surname Weiss most common?: Wikidata records people named Weiss in the United States, Austria and Poland and 1 other country.
Is the surname Weiss getting more or less common?: More common. 56,153 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 57,112 in 2010, up 1.7%.