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

Friedrich, 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 Friedrich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Friedrich in America

Friedrich is the 5563rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Friedrich surname appeared 6,249 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Friedrich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Friedrich 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 Friedrich

The surname Friedrich originated in Germany and has its roots in the Germanic languages. It is derived from the old German words "frid" meaning peace and "rihhi" meaning power or ruler. The name can be traced back to the 8th century and was originally a first name before becoming a hereditary surname.

The earliest recorded use of Friedrich as a surname can be found in medieval records from the 11th century in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony. It was often written as Friderich or Fridericus in these early documents. Some of the earliest known bearers of the name were members of noble families or knights.

One of the most notable historical figures with the surname Friedrich was Friedrich I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa (1122-1190), who was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was a prominent figure during the Crusades and led the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.

Another prominent Friedrich was Friedrich II (1194-1250), who was the King of Sicily, Germany, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 to 1250. He was known as a notable patron of the arts and sciences and played a significant role in the development of the Renaissance.

In the 16th century, the philosopher and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), whose full name was Nicolaus Copernicus von Thorn, had the surname Friedrich before it was Latinized to Copernicus.

The surname Friedrich was also associated with several places and towns in Germany, such as Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshall, and Friedrichstadt, which were named after various rulers or nobles with the name Friedrich.

Other notable individuals with the surname Friedrich include Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774), a German composer and musician during the Baroque period, and Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), a renowned German Romantic landscape painter.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Friedrich

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

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

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

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