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

Freeberg, 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 Freeberg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Freeberg in America

Freeberg is the 26451st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Freeberg surname appeared 923 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Freeberg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Freeberg 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 Freeberg

The surname FREEBERG is believed to have originated in Germany during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the German words "frei" meaning "free" and "berg" meaning "mountain" or "hill." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in a free or independent community located on a hill or mountain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name FREEBERG can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 12th century, where a person named Fridericus de Friberch is mentioned. This spelling variation suggests that the name may have originally been pronounced as "Freebergh" or something similar.

In the 13th century, the Freeberg family is believed to have been based in the region of Saxony, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. Records from this period indicate that a nobleman named Heinrich von Freeberg owned lands and properties in the area around the town of Freiberg.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any references to the surname FREEBERG. This suggests that the name may have originated and remained primarily concentrated in the German-speaking regions of Europe during the early medieval period.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname FREEBERG was Johannes Freeberg, a Lutheran theologian and reformer who lived from 1496 to 1541. He was a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation and worked closely with Martin Luther.

Another individual of note was Friedrich Freeberg (1633-1699), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister (music director) at the court of the Dukes of Saxe-Gotha.

In the 18th century, a man named Johann Christoph Freeberg (1714-1789) gained recognition as a renowned clockmaker and inventor of precision timekeeping devices in the German city of Nuremberg.

During the 19th century, the surname FREEBERG began to spread more widely beyond Germany, with some bearers of the name emigrating to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One such individual was Karl Freeberg (1842-1919), a German-born artist and painter who spent much of his career in the United States.

Another notable figure from this period was Elise Freeberg (1872-1959), a German-American educator and feminist who played an influential role in the women's suffrage movement in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Freeberg

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

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 Freeberg 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 Freeberg 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 Freeberg was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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