2000
#12,767
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,218
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.82
Rare Last name
Frison
A French toponymic surname indicating someone from Friesland, a coastal region in the Netherlands and Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,047 Americans carry the last name Frison. That puts it at #15,743 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 167,442 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Frison 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.
Bearers in the US
2.0K
1 in 167,442
Census rank
#15,743
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,785 bearers of the surname Frison in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15743rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Frison, the largest self-reported group is Black at 70.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Frison
The surname Frison originated in France during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "frison," which means "Frisian" or someone from Friesland, a region in the northwestern part of the Netherlands and a small part of Germany. The name likely referred to someone who had migrated or descended from Friesland.
Frison is also believed to be an occupational surname, referring to someone who worked with or traded Frisian textiles or fabrics. The Frisians were known for their exceptional skills in weaving and producing high-quality cloth during medieval times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Frison surname can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Redon, a cartulary from the 9th century that contains records of landowners and tenants in Brittany, France. This suggests that the name was already in use during the Carolingian period.
In the 13th century, a man named Gilles Frison was mentioned in the records of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. He was a landowner and a member of the local nobility.
During the 14th century, the name appeared in various historical documents and records across different regions of France, including Normandy, Burgundy, and the Île-de-France.
One notable individual with the Frison surname was Jean Frison, a French sculptor who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He is known for his work on the tomb of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany, located in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Another prominent figure was André Frison, a 16th-century French painter and manuscript illuminator. He was born in Rouen around 1520 and was renowned for his miniature paintings and illustrations in religious manuscripts and books.
In the 17th century, Jacques Frison was a French poet and dramatist from Normandy. He wrote several plays and poems that were performed and published during his lifetime.
The Frison surname also has a long history in Belgium, particularly in the regions of Flanders and Wallonia. One notable Belgian with this surname was Jean-Baptiste Frison, a 19th-century architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings and public spaces in Brussels.
Over the centuries, the Frison surname has been found in various spellings, such as Frisson, Frison, Frizon, and Fryzonne, reflecting regional variations and language influences.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Frison
Among Census respondents with the surname Frison, the largest self-reported group is Black at 70.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Frison 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 Frison surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.5% · 1,259
- White19.9% · 356
- Two or more races6.3% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Frison
Frison 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
#14,064
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,140
-78 bearers (-3.5%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Down 1,297 places
2020
#15,743
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,785
-355 bearers (-16.6%)
Per 100,000 0.60
Rank movement Down 1,679 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,767 | 2,218 | 0.82 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,064 | 2,140 | 0.73 | -78 bearers (-3.5%) | Down 1,297 places |
| 2020 | #15,743 | 1,785 | 0.60 | -355 bearers (-16.6%) | Down 1,679 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 Frison 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 | #14,064 | #15,743 | -11.9% |
| Count | 2,140 | 1,785 | -16.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.73 | 0.60 | -18.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Frison bearers went from 2,140 to 1,785 (-16.6% change). The surname moved down 1,679 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,064 to #15,743.
FAQ
Frison surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Frison?
Name Census estimates that about 2,047 living Americans carry the surname Frison. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 167,442 residents.
How common is Frison?
Frison ranks #15,743 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,785 people with the surname Frison. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,047), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.60 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Frison.
Has Frison become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Frison went from 2,140 recorded bearers to 1,785. That is a decrease of 355 (-16.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,064 to #15,743.
What does the Census say about the background of Frison?
Among Census respondents with the surname Frison, the largest self-reported group is Black at 70.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Frison in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.5% (1,259 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Frison appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (70.5%), White (19.9%), Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Frison (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 Frison mean?
A French toponymic surname indicating someone from Friesland, a coastal region in the Netherlands and Germany. 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 Frison (0.60 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 are called Frison?
Find out how many people have the surname Frison on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.