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

Freed, 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 Freed surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Freed in America

Freed is the 3717th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Freed surname appeared 9,541 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Freed.

We can also compare 2010 data for Freed 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 Freed

The surname Freed is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "fridu" which means peace. It is believed to have originated in the 12th century, during the Middle Ages, primarily in the regions of Bavaria and Swabia in southern Germany.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Freed can be found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of historical documents from the 13th century, where a certain "Fredericus Freed" is mentioned as a landowner in the town of Bamberg.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the "Stadtbuch von Nürnberg," an official record of the city of Nuremberg, where a "Hans Freed" is listed as a merchant and member of the local guild.

During the 16th century, the surname gained prominence with the birth of Johann Freed (1497-1570), a German Protestant theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Another notable figure was Johann Ludwig Freed (1673-1743), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister (chapel master) at the court of the Duke of Württemberg.

The name Freed can also be traced back to the town of Friedberg in Hesse, Germany, which was originally known as "Frideburgh" in the 9th century, meaning "peaceful town" or "peaceful fortress."

In the 18th century, the surname Freed appeared in the records of the Moravian Church, a Protestant denomination with roots in Bohemia and Moravia. One prominent figure was Christian Gottlieb Freed (1746-1821), a Moravian bishop and missionary who traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Americas.

Another notable individual bearing the surname Freed was Johann Baptist Freed (1801-1876), a German-American artist and lithographer who is known for his landscapes and portraits of Native Americans.

The name Freed has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshain, and Friedrichstadt, which incorporate the Old German word "fridu" or its variations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Freed

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

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

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

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