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

Froehlich, 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 Froehlich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Froehlich in America

Froehlich is the 7392nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Froehlich surname appeared 4,504 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 Froehlich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Froehlich 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 Froehlich

The surname Froehlich originates from Germany, first appearing in the 13th century. It derives from the Old High German words "frō" meaning "happy" or "joyful" and "līh" meaning "body" or "form." Together, these words formed the adjective "frōlīh," which eventually evolved into the modern German word "fröhlich" meaning "cheerful" or "merry."

The name likely referred to a person with a cheerful disposition or a joyful demeanor. In medieval times, surnames often described a person's physical or personality traits, and Froehlich would have been bestowed upon someone known for their happy nature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Froehlich can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a compilation of medieval documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg, dating back to the 13th century. The name appears in various spellings, such as Vrolich, Vrolick, and Frölich.

In the 14th century, a Nicolaus Froehlich is mentioned in the Nuremberg Chronicle, a famous illustrated world history published in 1493. This suggests that the name was well-established in Germany by that time.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Froehlich. One example is Johann Jakob Froehlich (1681-1749), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of comets and the calculation of their orbits.

Another prominent figure was Johann Froehlich (1805-1857), a German composer and music teacher who was a contemporary of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. He composed numerous works for piano and orchestral pieces.

In the 20th century, Friedrich Froehlich (1898-1979) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party who served as the Minister of Agriculture in West Germany from 1949 to 1953.

Werner Froehlich (1910-1987) was a German physicist known for his work in nuclear physics and particle accelerators. He played a crucial role in the development of the first European particle accelerator, the CERN Proton Synchrotron.

The surname Froehlich is also found in various place names across Germany, such as Fröhlichen, a village in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and Fröhlichsee, a lake in the state of Brandenburg.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Froehlich

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

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

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

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