Fred
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 111,984 living Americans carry the first name Fred. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Fred today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fred births was 1924 (6,566 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fred. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Fred with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Fred is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 2,029 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Fred is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Freds were born before 1966.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Fred have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
112K
~ 1 in 3,061 Americans
Peak year
1924
6,566 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,686
Tracked since 1880
Census
Fred in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129,137 people with the first name Fred, which placed it at #437 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#437
National first-name rank
People counted
129K
129,137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
42.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fred
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fred is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Fred described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Fred at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.4% · 96,124
- Black or African American13.5% · 17,457
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 8,960
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 2,814
- Two or more races2.0% · 2,636
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1,146
Gender
Gender distribution for Fred
Out of the 345,605 babies given the name Fred since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Fred as a male name
- Ranked #1,686 in 2024
- 99 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (6,532 births)
Fred as a female name
- Ranked #11,294 in 1989
- 6 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1928 (64 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fred appears almost entirely male. Of the 129,142 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Fred: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fred from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 63,216 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fred by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fred during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Freds live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Fred, while Nevada, Alaska, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5,840 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fred
The name Fred is a Germanic name derived from the Old High German word "fridu" or "fridu-ricu," which means "peaceful ruler" or "peaceful power." It is a shortened version of the name Frederick or Frederik, which has been a popular name throughout Europe for centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fred dates back to the 8th century, when it was first mentioned in the Frankish Royal Annals, a historical record of the Carolingian dynasty. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Frederic of Utrecht, a Frankish nobleman who lived in the late 8th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Fred became popular among the ruling classes of Europe, particularly in Germany, France, and England. One of the most famous historical figures with the name was Frederick I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, who was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190.
Another notable bearer of the name was Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, who was the King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. He was a renowned military leader and a patron of the arts and enlightenment.
In England, the name Fred gained popularity during the Victorian era. One of the most famous Freds in English history was Fred Archer, a renowned jockey who lived from 1857 to 1886 and won many prestigious horse races.
In the 20th century, the name Fred remained popular, particularly in the United States. One of the most famous Freds of this era was Fred Astaire, the legendary American dancer and actor who lived from 1899 to 1987.
Another notable Fred was Fred Rogers, the beloved American television personality and creator of the children's show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." He lived from 1928 to 2003 and was known for his kindness and dedication to educating and nurturing children.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Fred
People
Fred + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fred as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fred: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fred?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111,984 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fred going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,061 US residents.
Is Fred a common name?
We classify Fred as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 345,605 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fred most popular?
The single biggest year for Fred was 1924, when 6,566 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fred is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fred in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129,137 people with the name Fred, or 42.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #437 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Fred in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Fred?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fred appears almost entirely male. Of the 129,142 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Fred?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fred is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Fred most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fred in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.4% (96,124 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Fred in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fred a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Fred in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Fred still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fred in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Fred can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Fred?
You can see how many Americans are named Fred on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.