Find out how popular the last name Fred is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Fred.

Fred, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Fred surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fred in America

Fred is the 16407th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fred surname appeared 1,754 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Fred.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fred to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Fred

The surname FRED is of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the Old English word "frið" meaning "peace" or "peaceful." It is believed to have originated in the 7th or 8th century in the northern region of England, particularly in areas such as Northumbria and Yorkshire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name FRED can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Freddi" in the county of Yorkshire. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by the time of the Norman Conquest.

During the medieval period, the name FRED was often associated with landed gentry and minor nobility. In the 13th century, a family bearing the name Fredesone held lands in the village of Fryston, near Pontefract in Yorkshire. This place name is thought to have derived from a combination of the surname and the Old English word "tun" meaning "town" or "settlement."

In the 14th century, a notable figure named John FRED (c. 1310-1378) was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of York. His descendants continued to be influential members of the city's mercantile class for several generations.

Another significant bearer of the FRED surname was Sir William FRED (c. 1470-1535), a knight and landowner from Lincolnshire. He served as a member of the Privy Council under King Henry VIII and played a role in the dissolution of the monasteries.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the FRED surname spread to other parts of England, as well as to Scotland and Ireland. In the 18th century, a branch of the family settled in the American colonies, with James FRED (1725-1795) becoming a wealthy plantation owner in Virginia.

Other notable individuals with the FRED surname include:

• Thomas FRED (1778-1852), an English poet and writer.
• Elizabeth FRED (1829-1914), an American educator and suffragist.
• Sir Henry FRED (1863-1949), a British admiral and First Sea Lord.
• Walter FRED (1895-1976), an American baseball player and manager.

While the FRED surname has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, such as Frede, Fredd, and Fredde, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon word for "peace" and its early roots in northern England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fred

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Fred.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Fred was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Fred has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Fred was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Fred, please contact us.

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