2000
#12,037
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,380
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.88
Rare Last name
Frerichs
A German habitational surname derived from any of several places named Fröhlich, meaning "happy" or "cheerful."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,729 Americans carry the last name Frerichs. That puts it at #12,448 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 125,597 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Frerichs surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.7K
1 in 125,597
Census rank
#12,448
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,380 bearers of the surname Frerichs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12448th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Frerichs, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Frerichs
The surname Frerichs is of German origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old German personal name Friedrich, which is composed of the elements "frid" meaning peace and "ric" meaning power or ruler.
The earliest known record of the surname Frerichs dates back to 1275 in the city of Hamburg, where a man named Johann Frerichs is mentioned in a document related to a land transaction. This suggests that the name was prevalent in northern Germany during the medieval period.
In the 15th century, the name Frerichs appeared in various records across the German states, particularly in the regions of Saxony and Brandenburg. One notable reference is found in the Nuremberg Chronicle, a 16th-century illustrated world history book, where a person named Hans Frerichs is mentioned as a prominent merchant in the city of Leipzig.
The surname Frerichs is closely associated with the town of Frerichs in Lower Saxony, which likely took its name from an early bearer of the surname. This town is first mentioned in a document from 1412, suggesting that the Frerichs family had already established itself in the area by that time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Frerichs was Johann Frerichs, a 16th-century Protestant theologian and reformer from Saxony. He was born in 1504 and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation movement in Germany.
Another notable figure was Christoph Frerichs, a 17th-century German composer and organist who was born in 1625 in the city of Halle. He is known for his contributions to the development of church music during the Baroque period.
In the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Frerichs, born in 1737 in Hanover, was a renowned mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
In the 19th century, Friedrich Theodor Frerichs, born in 1819 in Aurich, was a prominent German physician and pathologist. He is considered one of the founders of modern clinical medicine and played a pivotal role in the development of nephrology, the study of kidney diseases.
Lastly, one of the most recent notable individuals with the surname Frerichs was Rudolf Frerichs, a German politician and member of the Bundestag (German parliament) who was born in 1907 and served as a member of the Christian Democratic Union party.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Frerichs
Among Census respondents with the surname Frerichs, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Frerichs bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Frerichs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 2,227
- Two or more races3.1% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
- Black or African American0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Frerichs
Frerichs appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,180
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,559
+179 bearers (+7.5%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Down 143 places
2020
#12,448
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,380
-179 bearers (-7.0%)
Per 100,000 0.80
Rank movement Down 268 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,037 | 2,380 | 0.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,180 | 2,559 | 0.87 | +179 bearers (+7.5%) | Down 143 places |
| 2020 | #12,448 | 2,380 | 0.80 | -179 bearers (-7.0%) | Down 268 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Frerichs surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,180 | #12,448 | -2.2% |
| Count | 2,559 | 2,380 | -7.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.87 | 0.80 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Frerichs bearers went from 2,559 to 2,380 (-7.0% change). The surname moved down 268 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,180 to #12,448.
FAQ
Frerichs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Frerichs?
Name Census estimates that about 2,729 living Americans carry the surname Frerichs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 125,597 residents.
How common is Frerichs?
Frerichs ranks #12,448 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,380 people with the surname Frerichs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,729), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Frerichs.
Has Frerichs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Frerichs went from 2,559 recorded bearers to 2,380. That is a decrease of 179 (-7.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,180 to #12,448.
What does the Census say about the background of Frerichs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Frerichs, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Frerichs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (2,227 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Frerichs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (2.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Frerichs (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Frerichs mean?
A German habitational surname derived from any of several places named Fröhlich, meaning "happy" or "cheerful." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Frerichs (0.80 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Frerichs?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.