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

Freeney, 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 Freeney surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Freeney in America

Freeney is the 26229th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Freeney surname appeared 932 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 Freeney.

We can also compare 2010 data for Freeney 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 Freeney

The surname FREENEY originated in Ireland, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Gaelic word "fraoigh," meaning "heather." This suggests that the name may have originally been a descriptive one, referring to someone who lived near or worked with heather plants.

The FREENEY surname is most commonly associated with County Tipperary in Ireland, where it is believed to have first emerged. However, it has also been found in other parts of the country, including County Cork and County Limerick. The name has gone through various spellings over the centuries, including Franey, Frehney, and Frahney.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the FREENEY name can be found in the Fiants of the Reign of Elizabeth I, where a Patrick Freeney is mentioned in connection with a land grant in County Tipperary in the late 16th century. This suggests that the FREENEY family may have had a presence in the area at that time.

In the 17th century, the FREENEY surname appears in the records of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, where several individuals bearing the name are listed as participants or victims of the conflict. This provides further evidence of the surname's presence in Ireland during this period.

Notable individuals with the FREENEY surname throughout history include:

1. Edmond Freeney (c. 1670-1745), an Irish Catholic landowner and member of the Parliament of Ireland.
2. John Freeney (1782-1856), an Irish-born soldier who served in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.
3. Michael Freeney (1845-1912), an Irish-American politician who served as the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1892 to 1896.
4. Bridget Freeney (1873-1957), an Irish immigrant to the United States and labor activist involved in the garment workers' unions in New York City.
5. Dwight Freeney (born 1980), an American professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Indianapolis Colts and other teams.

While the FREENEY surname is still found in Ireland today, it has also been carried by descendants of Irish emigrants to various other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Freeney

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

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

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

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