Criss
Criss is usually a shortened or altered form of a surname built on the word cross, often pointing to a sign, nickname, or religious symbol.
The #7,066 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 65,164 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The only historical excerpt supplied treats Criss as a doubled form related to Cross, suggesting that the name may have arisen as a spelling or pronunciation variant of a surname built on Old English and Middle English cross, meaning a cross. In surname practice, such forms could develop from a house or sign name, a religious emblem, or a nickname linked to a cross-shaped mark or object. Because the evidence here is limited, the exact pathway to Criss is uncertain.
History
The excerpt indicates that Criss was regarded as one of several names showing a tendency for English surnames to be spelled with a doubled vowel or altered ending. In practice, Criss may also have been influenced by the more common surname Cross, with which it is likely historically connected in some families. Modern bearers in the United States may come from several small, unrelated family lines rather than one single origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
This surname was noted in a 19th-century source as part of a list of names showing how people sometimes doubled the ending vowel sound in surnames.
From the historical record
“Whim, Wham, - Flim, Flam, - Snicker, Snee, - Noah Flood, Noah Ark, - Criss, Cross, - Hunkey, Dory, - Yankee, Do?idle. (The following few specimens are here introduced merely for the purpose of showing the tendency of many people to double E [ee] the ends of their names.)”
— A Grammar of American Surnames