Fredric
A masculine given name derived from an Old German name meaning "peaceful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 4,708 living Americans carry the first name Fredric. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fredric today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fredric births was 1947 (223 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fredric. 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.
People living today
4.7K
~ 1 in 72,803 Americans
Peak year
1947
223 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,254
Tracked since 1881
Popularity
Fredric: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fredric from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 1,887 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fredric 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 Fredric during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fredrics live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Fredric, while Virginia, Tennessee, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 161 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fredric
The name Fredric originates from the Germanic language and culture, deriving from the Old High German words "fridu" meaning "peace" and "ric" meaning "power" or "ruler." It is a variation of the name Frederick, which has its roots in the 5th century AD. The name spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions influenced by Germanic tribes and the Frankish Empire.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Fredric can be found in the 8th century Carolingian chronicles, referring to Fredric, the son of King Pepin the Short. During the reign of Charlemagne, the name gained prominence and was associated with nobility and royalty.
In the 11th century, the name Fredric appeared in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of the Anglo-Saxon people in Britain. The entry mentions a nobleman named Fredric who accompanied William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Fredric. One of the most famous was Fredric Barbarossa (1122-1190), a German emperor of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th century. He was renowned for his military campaigns and efforts to consolidate imperial power.
Another prominent figure was Fredric the Great (1712-1786), the King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. He was a skilled military strategist and an influential patron of the arts and Enlightenment philosophy.
In the realm of literature, Fredric Mistral (1830-1914) was a French writer and lexicographer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1904 for his contributions to Provençal literature.
The world of music has also seen its share of notable Fredrics, such as Fredric Chopin (1810-1849), the renowned Polish composer and pianist whose works are celebrated for their technical brilliance and emotional depth.
Finally, Fredric Nietzsche (1844-1900), the German philosopher, is widely recognized as one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th century, known for his groundbreaking works on morality, culture, and the human condition.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Fredric
People
Fredric + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fredric 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
Fredric: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fredric?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,708 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fredric 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 72,803 US residents.
Is Fredric a common name?
We classify Fredric as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,379 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fredric most popular?
The single biggest year for Fredric was 1947, when 223 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fredric is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fredric a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fredric 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.
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.