Quist
A Scandinavian surname from a word meaning “branch” or “twig.”
The #9,473 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,935 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Quist is generally explained from a Scandinavian word for a branch, twig, or shoot. The sources point especially to Swedish quist and Old Norse quistr, with a related Dutch form quast, all carrying the sense of a small branch or tuft. As a surname, it likely began as a descriptive or ornamental name built from this natural-image vocabulary.
History
19th-century surname writers noted Quist chiefly in Scandinavian contexts, and one source explicitly glosses it as Swedish in origin. It also appears in compound Swedish surnames such as Hasselquist and Lindquist, where the second element means “branch.” In English-language records, the name is usually associated with immigrants or descendants of Scandinavian families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root helped create a whole family of tree-and-plant surnames, including Lindquist (“lime/linden branch”) and Hasselquist (“hazel branch”).
From the historical record
“cV of some eminence. We have also Mr. Yunz- QUIST. Dr. Bibighaus resided at Philadelphia. I find Pegram and Chittick at Baltimore. Mr. Fiddick lives at Galena, 111. (1859). Mr. Spinck is member of Congress from Ohio. Dr. Spinks is a distinguished legal practitioner at London. Mr. Hincks is Gover- nor of Barbadoes.…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)