This very unusual name is well recorded but the origins are obscure. It is generally regarded as having Olde English pre 7th Century origins and being topographical, translating as "The dweller by the brushwood" from "Risc" and "Rysc". This would give the same origin as the surname "Rush" - John atte Rysh being recorded in the Sussex Pipe Rolls of 1337. The name has three alternative spellings in Rist, Riste and Wrist, Hercules Risi - being recorded at St. James, Clerkenwell on May 9th 1613, the Huguenot Varder Vanderiste married Elizabeth Keil on September 4th 1747 at St. Benets Church, Pauls Wharf, London, whilst on July 9th 1826, Mary Ann Riste was christened at Chard Independant Church, Somerset. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Riste, which was dated August 2nd 1607, christened at St. James' Church, Clerkenwell, during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.