Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Swiss German : topographic name for someone who lived near a thicket or underbrush, from an agent noun based on Middle High German rīs ‘branch’, ‘shrubbery’.
  • Possibly an Americanized spelling of German Reiser.

Subscribe to Family Education

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe