Reiss
A surname with multiple possible roots, most often linked to German nickname forms and sometimes confused with other names such as Reus/Reuss.
The #4,815 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,098 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence for Reiss is mixed. In German surname studies it is often treated as a short form or nickname-type name, sometimes grouped with forms built from old personal-name elements or from sound changes that produced spellings like Reiss, Reissel, Riss, and Reitz. The same spelling can also be associated with other traditions, so the name is not straightforwardly explained by one single root.
History
The name is found in German-speaking naming traditions and also appears in British records as an immigrant surname. Some 19th-century writers grouped it with a cluster of short German family names that vary by dialect and spelling, which helps explain why the surname can appear in several forms across regions and records. In English-language sources it may be encountered as a surname of German or Jewish origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
German spelling reform often turned the letter combination ß into ss in many contexts, which is one reason related surnames can appear in several spellings in old records.
From the historical record
“usually prefixed with O'. REISS. A Russian. Aberdeen Regist., quoted by Jamieson. RELFE. See Ralph. RELPH. See Ralph. RELTOjST. a manor so called, in the hundred of Pidre, co. Cornwall, is men- tioned in the Rotuli Hundredorum, temp. Edward I.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom