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

Freund, 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 Freund surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Freund in America

Freund is the 4745th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Freund surname appeared 7,465 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 Freund.

We can also compare 2010 data for Freund 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 Freund

The surname Freund is of German origin and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "vriunt," which means friend or loved one. The name was initially used as a nickname for someone who was considered a good friend or companion.

In the early Middle Ages, surnames were not common, and people were often identified by their occupation, physical characteristics, or personal traits. As the use of surnames became more widespread, Freund emerged as a surname in various regions of modern-day Germany.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Freund can be found in the Würzburg Codex, a 13th-century manuscript from the city of Würzburg in Bavaria. The document mentions a certain "Heinricus Vriunt" (Heinrich Freund) who was a landowner in the area.

During the 14th century, the surname Freund appeared in various official records and documents across German-speaking regions. For example, the Mettlacher Güterverzeichnis (Mettlach Property Register) from the year 1357 lists a "Conradus Frunt" (Conrad Freund) as a landowner in the town of Mettlach, which is now part of modern-day Saarland.

In the 15th century, the surname Freund was also found in other parts of Europe, likely due to migration and trade. One notable example is Johann Freund (c. 1475-1554), a German humanist scholar and writer who was born in Nuremberg but spent much of his life in Italy.

Another notable figure was Friedrich Freund (1768-1827), a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin and other cities in the early 19th century.

In the 19th century, the surname Freund gained prominence in various fields, including science and literature. One example is Wilhelm Freund (1806-1894), a German classical philologist and lexicographer who published several influential works on ancient Greek and Latin.

Another notable figure was Sigmund Freund (1865-1938), an Austrian physician and neurologist who was a close friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.

In the 20th century, the surname Freund continued to be associated with notable individuals in various fields. For instance, Paul Freund (1908-1992) was a prominent American legal scholar and professor at Harvard Law School, known for his expertise in constitutional law.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Freund

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

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

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

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