Reiss is a surname of Old German origin, and was most commonly used by Ashkenazic Jewish people as a metonymic occupational name for a dealer in rice (Yiddish רײַז), or as an ornamental name from the Old High German word Reis ‘twig,’ ‘branch.’

Reiss (often written with the German letter ß (or sharp-s) is mostly originated in Austria and South Germany. The south German or Austrian Reiss is a leftover of a profession name Reußhäusler which could best be translated to maker of charcoal from wood in English. Members of this profession usually have been free residents (in the meaning of not enslaved and not belonging to a Duke or King) and got very early the right to carry a weapon (axe) and a uniform like dress, comparable to miners.

Several Jewish sources for the surname Reiss stem from the German state of Hessen (Frankfurt am Main). Some historians wrote that Reiss could refer to a rice dealer, or to a water-gate operator, or a fisherman who used a fish-trap basket. At the Museum of the Judengasse (Jewish ghetto) in Frankfurt, there is definitive evidence that a Reuse (fish-trap basket or creel) was one of the signs attached to Jewish homes in the streets. According to Dr. Michael Lenarz at the museum, Jewish residents of the ghetto derived their legal names from the names of the house in which they resided.

A next source is reported to be located in the former very North-Northeast Germany. It shall be originated in the Scandinavian languages (Norway/Sweden). There, the ancient Rus is the land around a river from the Baltic Sea to the heart of Russia. So the Reuss Men or Reussians are early Dark Ages Russians. A very final and believable source is from armoured horsemen (without noble title). They are still called Reisige in German. This may come from Ross reitende, German for Horse riding Men).

The surname Reisman is a variant.

People named Reiss

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In fiction

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See also

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References

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