Lister or Lyster is an English

occupational surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

, and may refer to a textile dyer, from the Middle English word "litster", meaning to dye. It dates back to the 13th century in Scotland with the recording of Aleyn le Littester of Edinburghshire who rendered homage to the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

government in 1296, and to the 14th century in England (Richard le Lyster appears in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of Derbyshire in 1327). The name probably comes from the Old Norse verb 'lita', meaning 'to dye' and rendered as 'lystare' in English. The noun for 'dyer' was 'litster' (Scottish), 'lit(t)e' (middle English), or 'lister' (English). The word was also associated with a 'salmon spear', rendered 'lyster' (Danish) or 'lister' (English). A 1533 Act of Parliament stated, "No person shall take in any crele, raw web, lister.... the young fry of salmon." The name took hold in areas of England in the 16th century known for the woollen industry, mainly Yorkshire, but also Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The name came to Ireland following the Cromwellian campaign of 1649, and took root in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

, rendered by the English as Queen's County.

Spelling variants

The name's spellings include Lister (English and Scottish), Lyster (Irish), Lester, Lestor (English), McInlester, McLeister, Laister, Litster (Scottish), Lidster (Scottish), and the rare Ledgister and Ledster (Scottish).

Eswyn Lyster Coral Eswyn (née Ellinor) Lyster, (September 27, 1923 – July 18, 2009) was a British-born Canadian author best known for writing extensively on the Canadian war bride experience. She also published articles on the Dieppe Raid in World War II ...

notes that, "It is often said that 'Lister' is the English name, while 'Lyster' is Irish, but both spellings are found in Ireland, often in the same family. In England 'Lyster' is seldom seen (save) to someone whose ancestors moved to Ireland and then returned. In Scotland the spelling (Fife County) is 'Litster' and 'Lidster', and tends to become 'Lister' in modern times'." Whereas both 'Lister' and 'Lyster' rhyme with 'mister', in some areas of western Canada 'Lyster' is rendered as if spelt 'Lester'.

Coat of arms and crest

There is no official registry that recognizes a Lister/Lyster coat of arms, but Listers of Yorkshire-descent use the one granted to John Lyster de Derby. It is a shield divided horizontally in three, the middle being black with three large white five-pointed stars. Six small staggered crosses with bell-bottomed bases are on the white strip at the top, and seven are on the bottom. The crest which appears atop the coat of arms is a dagger impaling a laurel wreath, from Carlow Ireland (Queen's County). This is listed in Fairburn's Crests, designated "LYSTER, Ire." The family motto is variously 'Retinens vestigia famae' (Following in the footsteps of fame), or 'Facta, non verba' (Deeds, not words).

Lister

Alton Lister Alton Lavelle Lister (born October 1, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently serving as an assistant coach for TNT Tropang Giga in Philippine Basketball Association. Lister graduated from Woodrow Wilson High ...

, retired American professional basketball player *

Anne Lister Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian". Lister was from a minor landowning family at Shibden in Calderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, (1791–1840), Yorkshire landowner * Anthony Lister, an Australian born painter and installation artist *

Arthur Lister Arthur Hugh Lister (1830–1908) was a wine merchant and botanist, known for his research on slime molds. Life Lister was born in Upton House, Upton, Essex. He was the youngest son of Joseph Jackson Lister, a brother of the celebrated Joseph Lis ...

, (1830–1908), English botanist *

Aynsley Lister Aynsley Lister (born 14 November 1976 in Leicester, England) is a British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter. Biography Lister started playing guitar at 8 and played his first concert in a bar band at the age of 13. He had learned g ...

, English blues guitarist *

Big Bill Lister "Big Bill" Lister (January 5, 1923 – December 1, 2009) was an American honky tonk country music singer. Born Weldon E. Lister, he was nicknamed "Radio's Tallest Singing Cowboy," standing over 6-foot-7 without his cowboy boots and hat.

, (1923–2009), Texas country and western singer, honkytonk singer *

Charles J. Lister Charles J. Lister (1820, in London – 1912, in Owen Sound, Ontario) was a central figure in the Restoration Movement in 19th century Canada. He immigrated to Bowmanville U.C. in 1821, In the late 1840s he turned down a handsome position with the B ...

, (1820–1912), a central figure in the

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (179 ...

in 19th-century Canada * Dave Lister (fictional character), character in the BBC television sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' *

David Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton David Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton, JP, DL (21 March 1937 – 26 March 2006) was a British peer and politician. Background David Cunliffe-Lister was the son of the Hon John Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister and his wife Anne Irv ...

David Lister (director) David Lister is a South African-born film and television director, now residing in Australia. David Lister grew up on a farm in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. He trained as a painter and sculptor in Pretoria before being employed as a scene ...

, South African-born film director *

David Lister (origami historian) David Lister (18 April 1930 – 13 February 2013) was the world's leading origami historian. He was a founding member of the British Origami Society. He wrote its constitution and served as its first president. Personal life Born in Grimsby, Lin ...

Dean Lister Dean Richard Lister (born February 13, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2000 until 2015, he fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, and California-based promotion King of t ...

, an American mixed martial arts fighter and a former KOTC champion *

Elaine Lister Elaine Lister is a Scottish wheelchair curler. At the international level she is a . Teams References External links * * Living people Scottish female curlers Scottish wheelchair curlers Year of birth missing (living people) Pl ...

(born 1962), Scottish wheelchair curler * General

Enrique Líster Enrique Líster Forján (21 April 1907 – 8 December 1994) was a Spanish communist politician and military officer. Early life Líster was born in 1907 at Ameneiro, A Coruña. A stonemason, he spent his adolescence in Cuba, before returni ...

, Spanish Communist politician and military officer who took part in the Spanish Civil War and World War II *

Henrietta Lister Henrietta Mabel Lister (also known as Laretta Listakova, Henrietta Listakova and H. M. Burrill-Robinson; 1895–1959) was a British watercolourist, dancer, and race driver. Early life Lister was born in 1895 and her parents were Charles Lister ...

(1895–1959), British race driver, dancer, and painter *

Hovie Lister Hovie Franklin Lister (September 17, 1926 – December 28, 2001) was an American gospel musician, Baptist Minister, and politician. Lister was best known for his time as the front man of the Statesmen Quartet, perhaps the most well known and renow ...

, musician *

Hugh Lister Hugh Evelyn Jackson Lister (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1944) was an English Anglican priest, trade union organizer, and combatant British Army officer in the Second World War. Graduate of Cambridge University and Cuddesdon Theological Co ...

, (1901–1944), an Anglican priest, trade union organizer, and combatant officer in World War II * Ensign

Jeremy Lister Captain Jeremy Lister (28 September 1752 – 3 April 1836) was a British officer in the 10th Regiment of Foot during the early days of the American Revolution. His journal was later published as ''Concord fight: Being so much of the narrative of ...

, the youngest British officer at the

Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...

, British surgeon and pioneer of antiseptic surgery *

Joseph Jackson Lister Joseph Jackson Lister FRS FRMS (11 January 1786 – 24 October 1869) was an amateur British opticist and physicist and the father of The 1st Baron Lister. Ancestry In 1705, Thomas Lister, a farmer and maltster, of Bingley, Yorkshire, Englan ...

(1786–1869), British amateur opticist and physicist; father of Joseph Lister *

Joseph Jackson Lister (naturalist) Joseph Jackson Lister FRS (August 3, 1857 – February 5, 1927) was a British zoologist and plant collector from Leytonstone who collected biological specimens during travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific region. Life Lister's grand ...

(1857–1927), British zoologist and plant collector *

Joseph Lister (VC) Sergeant Joseph Lister VC (19 October 1886 − 19 January 1963) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded t ...

, received VC for actions at the Third Battle of Ypres *

Martin Lister Martin Lister FRS (12 April 1639 – 2 February 1712) was an English naturalist and physician. His daughters Anne and Susanna were two of his illustrators and engravers. J. D. Woodley, ‘Lister , Susanna (bap. 1670, d. 1738)’, Oxford Dict ...

, (c. 1638 – 1712), English naturalist and physician *

Marquita Lister Marquita Lister (born 24 April 1961) is an American operatic soprano. She has sung with major companies in the U.S. and abroad, specializing in the spinto soprano, lirico-spinto repertoire. Lister is considered one of the leading interpreters of B ...

, American opera soprano *

Matthew Lister (died 1657) Matthew Lister (died 1657) was a physician to the English royal family and is known for his relationship with the Countess of Pembroke. Background and early career Lister was a son of William Lister of Thornton in Craven in Yorkshire and Anne Myd ...

Moira Lister Moira Lister Gachassin-Lafite, Viscountess of Orthez (6 August 192327 October 2007) was a South African-British film, stage and television actress and writer. Early life Born in Cape Town to Major James Lister and Margaret (née Hogan), Liste ...

, British actress and writer *

Mosie Lister Thomas Mosie Lister (September 8, 1921 – February 12, 2015) was an American singer and Baptist minister. He was best known for writing the Gospel songs "Where No One Stands Alone", "Till the Storm Passes By", "Then I Met the Master" and "How ...

, U.S. musician *

Nicholas Cunliffe-Lister, 3rd Earl of Swinton Nicholas John Cunliffe-Lister, 3rd Earl of Swinton (4 September 1939 – 21 March 2021), styled Nicholas Cunliffe-Lister from 1974 to 2006, was a British peer. The younger grandson of the first Earl, he became Earl of Swinton on the death of his ...

Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton, (1 May 1884 – 27 July 1972), known as Philip Lloyd-Greame until 1924 and as The Viscount Swinton between 1935 and 1955, was a prominent British Conservative politician from the 1920s until the 1950 ...

Richard Percival Lister Richard Percival Lister FRSL (23 November 1914 – 1 May 2014) was an English author, poet, artist and metallurgist. Background and professional experience through World War II He was born in Nottingham in 1914, and grew up in West Didsbury ...

, (R. P. Lister) British metallurgist, author, poet and painter * S. E. Lister, British novelist *

Samuel Lister, 1st Baron Masham Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 1st Baron Masham (1 January 1815 – 2 February 1906), was an English inventor and industrialist, notable for inventing the Lister nip comb. Early life He was born in Calverley Hall (now Calverley House Farm- not to be ...

* Steve Lister, English footballer *

Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton Susan Lilian Primrose Cunliffe-Lister, Dowager Countess of Swinton, Baroness Masham of Ilton, (''née'' Sinclair; born ) is a crossbench member of the House of Lords. She is the senior life peer. She is Vice President of the Snowdon Trust, f ...

Thomas Lister (regicide) Thomas Lister (1597–1668) was colonel in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War and an MP. He was appointed a judge at the trial of Charles I, but on the restoration escaped with a light punishment. Early life Lister was born in 159 ...

, (1597–1668), Colonel in English Parliamentary Army, English civil war *

Thomas Henry Lister Thomas Henry Lister (1800 – 5 June 1842) was an English novelist and biographer, and served as Registrar General in the British civil service. He was an early exponent of the silver fork novel as a genre and also presaged "futuristic" writing i ...

, (1800–1842) English novelist and Registrar General *

Tom Lister, Jr. Tommy Deebo "Tiny" Lister Jr. (born Thomas Duane Lister Jr.; June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020) was an American character actor and occasional professional wrestling, professional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in ...

(1958–2020), American actor *

Tommy Lister Jr. Tommy Deebo "Tiny" Lister Jr. (born Thomas Duane Lister Jr.; June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020) was an American character actor and occasional professional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 film ''Friday ...

(1958–2020), American character actor and wrestler *

W. Lister Lister William Lister Lister (27 December 1859 – 6 November 1943) was an Australian painter who specialized in landscapes. He was awarded the Wynne Prize seven times. He was also a recipient of the Commonwealth Government prize for his painting of th ...

(1859–1943), Australian artist

Lyster

Anthony George Lyster Anthony George Lyster (1852 – 17 March 1920) was born in Hollyhead, Wales. He was engineer-in-chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board from 1897, when he succeeded his father, George Fosbery Lyster, until his retirement in 1913, when he wa ...

(1852–1920), Engineer-in-Chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board * Bill Lyster, Canadian sergeant in Dieppe Raid#Main Canadian landings, WWII *

(1923–2009), Canadian author *

Harry Lyster Lieutenant General Harry Hammon Lyster VC, CB (24 December 1830 – 1 February 1922) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and ...

(1830–1922), Anglo-Irish Victoria Cross winner *

Lumley Lyster Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Lumley St George Lyster, (27 April 1888 – 4 August 1957) was a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War. Naval career After leaving Berkhamsted School, in 1902 Lyster joined HMS ''Britannia'' to train for a nav ...

(1888–1957), Royal Navy vice-admiral during the Second World War *

Margery Lyster Margery Lyster or Lister, nee Horsman (died 1565) was an English courtier in the 1520s and 1530s. Career She became a Maid of Honour at court, and is recorded in the service of three queens consort of Henry VIII of England. Her dates of birth and d ...

, English courtier and servant of Anne Boleyn *

Richard Lyster Sir Richard Lyster (c. 1480 – 14 March 1554) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Origins and early career Sir Frederick Madden in his "Remarks on the Monument of Sir Richard Lyster in St. Michael's Church Southampton ...

(1480–1554), English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench * Theodore C. Lyster (1875–1933), US Army brigadier general and aviation medicine pioneer * Thomas Lyster (Cavalier) (1612–1655), supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War *

Thomas William Lyster Thomas William Lyster (1855–1922) was director of the National Library of Ireland in Dublin between 1895 and his retirement in 1920. Lyster joined the library in 1878 and was appointed as its director in 1895. He was also a scholar who trans ...

(1855–1922), Irish librarian; mentioned in ''Ulysses'' by James Joyce *

William Saurin Lyster William Saurin Lyster (21 March 1828 – 27 November 1880), often referred to as W. Saurin Lyster, was an impresario, active in Australia. Early life Lyster was born in Dublin, Ireland, the third son of Chaworth Lyster, a captain in the army, ...

(1828–1880), Irish-born impresario, active in Australia

Litster

* Geoffrey Litster, leader of a peasant uprising in Norfolk in 1381

Known Lister/Lyster histories

Lyster Pioneers of Lower Canada and the West, 1984 "The Lyster Family: The Canadian Lysters who Belong to the Lyster Family of Queen's County, Ireland", 1900
- James Lyster, Montreal, Canada

- Sir Henry (Lyster) Denny (The Listers of Gisburn(e), Yorkshire, England)
"The Lyster Family", 1973
- Helen Lyster Nash, Pasadena, California, USA. 1979. 275 pages. San Marino Printers, San Marino, CA HFG-Lyster-2. HFL 6677.
Lyster Pioneers of Lower Canada and the West, 1984
-

, Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada. 335 pages. Cartwright Printers, Courtenay, B.C. . HFG-Lyster-3.Genealogies of P.E.I. families
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lister (Surname) English-language surnames