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

Fries, 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 Fries surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fries in America

Fries is the 4150th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fries surname appeared 8,540 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 Fries.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fries 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 Fries

The surname Fries is of German origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It originated as a topographic name for someone who lived near a marshy or swampy area, derived from the Middle High German word "vries" meaning "marsh" or "swamp".

In its earliest recorded forms, the name appeared as "Vries", "Vriz", or "Friese" in various medieval records and documents from the regions of present-day northern Germany and the Netherlands. It is believed that the name may have initially referred to inhabitants of the Frisian lands, which included parts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Vries, a merchant from Hamburg, who was mentioned in a trade record from 1278. Another notable early bearer was Henricus Vries, a landowner from the Dutch province of Friesland, whose name appeared in a land deed from 1321.

As the name spread and evolved over time, it took on various spellings such as Fries, Friess, Friese, and Fryse. In the 16th century, the name Fries appeared in the records of the city of Cologne, where a merchant named Johann Fries was documented in 1562.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Fries. One of the most famous was Jacob Friedrich Fries (1773-1843), a German philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the fields of logic and epistemology.

Another notable bearer was Ernst Fries (1801-1833), a German botanist and bryologist, who is remembered for his contributions to the study of mosses and liverworts. He was born in Altenkirchen, Germany, and his works included the influential "Systema Orbis Vegetabilis" published in 1825.

In the realm of art, there was the German painter and engraver Ernst Fries (1801-1833), best known for his landscapes and etchings of architectural subjects. His works can be found in collections across Europe.

The surname Fries has also been associated with notable figures in literature. One example is the German author and poet Jakob Fries (1825-1886), who is remembered for his poetic works and his contributions to the literary scene of the 19th century.

Another bearer of the name was the Dutch historian and archivist Pieter Fries (1611-1677), who served as the city archivist of Leiden and wrote extensively on the history of the Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fries

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

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

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

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