Bannister Surname

17,866th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 30,925 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Bahamas

Bannister Surname Definition:

i)Occup. Abalister, (becoming banisters, literally balusters, staircase, railings), an arbalester, a crossbowman. Old French baleslier. v. Alabaster. The name in various forms is found in every early list It is sufficient to turn to the London Directory to see by the number of Bannisters the commonness of the occupation.

Read More About This Surname

Bannister Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States11,7151:30,9403,852
England10,3471:5,385747
Australia3,0841:8,7531,304
Canada2,2971:16,0412,317
South Africa5471:99,04512,016
Scotland3671:14,5881,852
New Zealand3621:12,5092,182
Wales3521:8,791971
Bahamas3461:1,132214
Barbados2281:1,261289
Philippines1961:516,52259,882
Zimbabwe1301:118,75616,091
Northern Ireland991:18,6372,335
France751:885,636103,228
Ireland731:64,5064,193
Thailand701:1,009,119153,242
Trinidad and Tobago661:20,6662,393
Singapore471:117,1854,783
Guyana421:18,1482,339
Spain411:1,140,29440,056
United Arab Emirates371:247,62917,078
Panama361:108,6744,042
Germany351:2,300,156119,987
Jamaica341:84,4103,809
Kuwait291:131,05814,967
Malta241:17,9281,021
Qatar221:107,18211,536
Botswana221:99,40615,343
Switzerland201:410,64630,429
Jersey191:5,2211,083
Sweden121:820,56361,223
Chile121:1,468,04024,959
Norway111:467,48139,375
Mexico101:12,412,62043,480
Sierra Leone91:787,737678
Brazil81:26,759,292405,030
Isle of Man71:12,2602,387
Israel51:1,711,52784,568
Tanzania51:10,588,32375,430
Malaysia51:5,898,845196,803
Czechia51:2,126,694115,412
Ghana41:6,755,17315,406
Poland41:9,502,187181,606
Guernsey41:16,1101,225
Kazakhstan41:4,420,624134,293
Saint Lucia31:59,5942,472
Japan31:42,614,76459,022
Cyprus31:294,9598,690
Afghanistan31:10,717,72835,605
Italy31:20,385,563143,117
United States Virgin Islands31:36,7924,502
Uganda21:19,519,640189,114
China21:683,660,78330,601
British Virgin Islands21:15,797839
Austria21:4,257,71899,224
Argentina21:21,371,707253,176
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
Croatia11:4,228,60499,289
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Anguilla11:13,436792
Costa Rica11:4,780,06913,345
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Denmark11:5,644,71593,155
Ethiopia11:97,546,26229,669
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
India11:767,065,3821,851,717
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Honduras11:8,816,4429,272
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Guam11:160,1214,893
Nepal11:28,480,95622,413
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Nigeria11:177,142,758748,972
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Iceland11:380,09011,096
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Brunei11:418,7313,893
Egypt11:91,935,754132,737
Bermuda11:65,2793,010
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland1361:32,5733,185
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England5,0881:4,791719
Scotland521:71,9854,169
Wales461:34,0961,856
Isle of Man41:13,5671,192
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,1601:43,2925,034

Bannister (98) may also be a first name.

Bannister Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

i)Occup. Abalister, (becoming banisters, literally balusters, staircase, railings), an arbalester, a crossbowman. Old French baleslier. v. Alabaster. The name in various forms is found in every early list It is sufficient to turn to the London Directory to see by the number of Bannisters the commonness of the occupation.

'Gosners, balesters, and archers': Caxton, 1489 (quoted in H.E.D).

1557. Buried — John Corker, bailister, Ulverston (Ulverston Church).

Probably this is an instance of the curious Elizabethan custom of appending the old feminine -sler to names of masculine occupation. John Corker was, I suspect, the bailie or bailiff of the town. But he may have been a cross-bowman.

(a) Local.

Adam de Banistre, temp. 1320: Baines' Lancashire.

This is the only entry with de I can find. The Testa de Neville, Hundred Rolls, and Placita de Quo Warranto have many instances, but all without prefix. It is clear however that (1) is not the only origin, judging by the character of these entries.

John Balistar, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Wyot Balistarius. Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinesi.

Renaud Balistarius. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londinensi.

Henry Balistar, Oxfordshire, Henry III— Edw I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Robert Balistarius, Yorkshire, ibid.

Agnes Banastre, Salop, 1273. Hundred Rolls.Stolen from Fore-bears

Henry Banastre, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Thomas Banastie, Lancashire 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

John Banastre, Berkshire, Henry III— Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Johannes Banastre, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1674. Baptised — Anne, d. Thomas Balisster: St. James, Clerkenwell.

The surname is found all over the kingdom in large numbers. It is quite possible that some of these entries represent a personal name now forgotten.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

— Banister, q.v.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) One who made and sold baskets; one who fought with a crossbow.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

Banastre occurs in Holinshed's Roll of Battel Abbey. Camden derives it from balneator, the keeper of a bath. 2. A term used in the parish accounts of Chudleigh, co. Devon, and supposed to mean a traveller in distress.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

The keeper of a bath; from the French bain, a bath.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Perhaps originally Bainster, one who kept a bath; from Old English and Old French bain, a bath.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

From Banstead; a location name in Essex, Surrey (?) Adam Banastr in Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, King John

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

In the reign of Edward VI. the Bannisters or Banisters held an estate in Beeding, West Sussex (D.). Thomas de Banastre, apparently a Sussex man, distinguished himself in a naval fight off Winchelsea in 1350 (C.). The name is far more characteristic of Lancashire.

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

User-submitted Reference

Bannister is derived from the Old French word, banastre, meaning 'basket maker'. Bannisters are to be found clustered in port areas where many were rope makers, a sort of weaving process, as was basket making. There does not seem to be any direct connection between Bannister and all the references given above, which refer to Banister, since none of them are associated with basket, rope, or the making of similar materials.

- banni1

Bannister Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Bannister Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Bannister is more frequently found in The United States than any other country or territory. It can occur in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Bannister? popularity and diffusion

The last name Bannister is the 17,866th most common family name in the world, held by around 1 in 235,652 people. The last name Bannister occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 45 percent of Bannister live; 42 percent live in North America and 42 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 956,749th most widespread first name worldwide. It is borne by 98 people.

The last name Bannister is most commonly used in The United States, where it is carried by 11,715 people, or 1 in 30,940. In The United States it is primarily found in: Georgia, where 9 percent are found, South Carolina, where 7 percent are found and Texas, where 7 percent are found. Not including The United States it occurs in 84 countries. It also occurs in England, where 33 percent are found and Australia, where 10 percent are found.

Bannister Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Bannister has changed over time. In The United States the number of people carrying the Bannister surname increased 1,010 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 203 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 706 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it increased 765 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it declined 46 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Bannister Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those holding the Bannister last name is chiefly Anglican (55%) in Ireland.

In The United States Bannister are 11% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 57.77% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Bannister earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 12.05% less than the national average, earning 304,375 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 95.07% more than the national average, earning R 463,572 per year; in United States they earn 2.66% less than the national average, earning $42,000 USD per year and in Canada they earn 2.72% more than the national average, earning $51,036 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

Bannister Reference & Research

Banister FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Bannister
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis