2000
#857
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 36,833
First available Census row
Per 100,000 13.65
Uncommon Last name
Friedman
A Jewish surname derived from the German word "friedmann," meaning "man of peace" or "peacemaker."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 43,865 Americans carry the last name Friedman. That puts it at #898 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 12.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 7,814 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Friedman 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Friedman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
44K
1 in 7,814
Census rank
#898
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
12.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
38K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 38,252 bearers of the surname Friedman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 12.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 898th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Friedman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Friedman
The surname Friedman is of German and Jewish origin, derived from the word "fried" meaning peace or peaceful, and "man" meaning man. It originated in the 14th century in Germany and was initially used as a descriptive name for a peaceful person.
The name can be traced back to the early 1300s, with the earliest recorded instance being a mention in the Judenbücher, a set of Jewish record books from the city of Nuremberg, where a person named Friedman Löw was listed in 1346. Similar spellings from this time include Friedemann, Friedmann, and Fridmann.
In the 15th century, the Friedman surname appeared in various German towns and cities, such as Frankfurt, Mainz, and Cologne. One notable example is Abraham Friedman, a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived in Frankfurt from 1460 to 1528.
As the Jewish population spread across Europe, the Friedman name traveled with them. In the 16th century, it can be found in records from Poland, Bohemia, and the Netherlands. A notable figure from this era is Moses Friedman, a Dutch Jewish philosopher who lived from 1535 to 1603.
The Friedman surname also has a long history in England, with records dating back to the late 16th century. One of the earliest known examples is Daniel Friedman, a merchant who settled in London in 1592.
In the 18th century, the name was well-established in various parts of Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Russia. One notable figure from this period is David Friedman, a German-born Jewish philosopher and author who lived from 1710 to 1782.
As the centuries progressed, the Friedman name continued to spread across the globe, with many bearers of the name achieving notable accomplishments. For instance, Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was an American economist and Nobel Prize winner, while Thomas L. Friedman (born 1953) is a renowned American journalist and author.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Friedman
Among Census respondents with the surname Friedman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Friedman 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 Friedman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.0% · 35,958
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 1,038
- Two or more races1.9% · 716
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 312
- Black or African American0.5% · 188
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 40
Timeline
Historical Census data for Friedman
Friedman 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
#901
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 38,374
+1,541 bearers (+4.2%)
Per 100,000 13.01
Rank movement Down 44 places
2020
#898
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 38,252
-122 bearers (-0.3%)
Per 100,000 12.80
Rank movement Up 3 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #857 | 36,833 | 13.65 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #901 | 38,374 | 13.01 | +1,541 bearers (+4.2%) | Down 44 places |
| 2020 | #898 | 38,252 | 12.80 | -122 bearers (-0.3%) | Up 3 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 Friedman 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 | #901 | #898 | 0.3% |
| Count | 38,374 | 38,252 | -0.3% |
| Per 100K | 13.01 | 12.80 | -1.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Friedman bearers went from 38,374 to 38,252 (-0.3% change). The surname moved up 3 positions in the national ranking, going from #901 to #898.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Friedman
FAQ
Friedman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Friedman?
Name Census estimates that about 43,865 living Americans carry the surname Friedman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 7,814 residents.
How common is Friedman?
Friedman ranks #898 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 12.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 13 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 38,252 people with the surname Friedman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (43,865), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 12.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 12.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 13 of them to have the surname Friedman.
Has Friedman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Friedman went from 38,374 recorded bearers to 38,252. That is a decrease of 122 (-0.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #901 to #898.
What does the Census say about the background of Friedman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Friedman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Friedman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.0% (35,958 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Friedman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.0%), Hispanic (2.7%), Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Friedman (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 Friedman mean?
A Jewish surname derived from the German word "friedmann," meaning "man of peace" or "peacemaker." 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 Friedman (12.80 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 people share the surname Friedman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.