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

Freeborn, 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 Freeborn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Freeborn in America

Freeborn is the 17447th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Freeborn surname appeared 1,616 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 Freeborn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Freeborn 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 Freeborn

The surname Freeborn is of English origin and dates back to the late medieval period. It is a locational surname, derived from the Old English words 'freo' meaning free and 'burna' meaning stream or brook. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a free-flowing stream or brook.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Freeborn can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, where a John Fryborn is listed. Another early record from the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1296 mentions a William Freebourne.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the surname was primarily concentrated in the counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Sussex. Some variations in spelling included Freeburn, Freiborn, and Freeburne.

The Freeborn name is not found in the Domesday Book of 1086, suggesting that it emerged later during the medieval period. However, it is possible that the name existed earlier but was recorded under a different spelling or form.

In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Sir William Freeborn (c. 1510-1591), a member of Parliament for Rye in Sussex during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Another prominent individual was Edward Freeborn (1611-1681), a Puritan minister who emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s and served as a pastor in Hampden County, Massachusetts.

In the 18th century, William Freeborn (1719-1779) was a British naval officer who served during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.

John Freeborn (1677-1756) was an English architect and surveyor who worked on several notable buildings in London, including the Church of St Giles-in-the-Fields.

In the 19th century, Sir Francis Freeborn (1823-1901) was a British diplomat and served as the British Consul-General in Morocco from 1870 to 1889.

While the Freeborn surname is not among the most common in England, it has a long and well-documented history dating back to the medieval period. The name's origins reflect the geographic features of the areas where it first emerged, and it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life throughout the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Freeborn

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

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

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

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