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

Friese, 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 Friese surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Friese in America

Friese is the 12597th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Friese surname appeared 2,457 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Friese.

We can also compare 2010 data for Friese 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 Friese

The surname Friese originated from the northern regions of Germany, particularly in areas such as Friesland, Lower Saxony, and Westphalia. The name has its roots in the Old Saxon and Old Frisian languages, where it was derived from the word "Fries" or "Frisian," referring to the Frisian people, an ethnic group native to the coastal areas of the Netherlands and Germany.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Friese can be traced back to the 13th century, where it appeared in various historical documents and records from the region. One notable example is the "Urkundenbuch des Klosters Bursfeld," a collection of documents from the Bursfeld Monastery in Lower Saxony, which mentions individuals with the surname Friese during this period.

In the 14th century, the name Friese was found in the "Staatsarchiv Bremen," a collection of records from the city-state of Bremen, indicating the presence of individuals with this surname in the area. Additionally, the "Urkundenbuch der Stadt Hildesheim" from the same century includes references to individuals with the surname Friese in the city of Hildesheim.

During the 16th century, the name Friese gained prominence in various regions of Germany. One notable figure was Johann Friese (1490-1559), a German theologian and professor at the University of Rostock. Another individual of note was Erasmus Friese (1482-1558), a German humanist and poet from Saxony.

In the 17th century, the surname Friese was associated with several notable individuals, including Johann Philipp Friese (1619-1673), a German jurist and writer from Hesse. Additionally, Johann David Friese (1656-1732), a German theologian and author from Saxony, made significant contributions to the Lutheran church during this period.

The 18th century saw the emergence of Johann Christoph Friese (1721-1799), a German geographer and cartographer from Saxony, who is known for his detailed maps and atlases of various regions in Europe.

As the name Friese spread across Germany and beyond, it underwent various spelling variations, including Fries, Friess, and Frese, among others. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and linguistic differences within the German-speaking areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Friese

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

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

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

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