Frommer last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Frommer

A German surname derived from the German word "fromm," meaning pious or devout.

Frommer, 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 Frommer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Frommer in America

Frommer is the 38439th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Frommer surname appeared 576 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Frommer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Frommer 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 38439 36917 4.04%
Count 576 570 1.05%
Proportion per 100k 0.20 0.21 -4.88%

The history of the last name Frommer

The surname Frommer is believed to have originated in Germany, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 14th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "vromer," which means "pious" or "virtuous." This suggests that the name was initially given to someone who was perceived as a devout or morally upright individual.

The name can be traced to various regions within Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. In some areas, the name was also spelled as "Fromer" or "Frommer," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

One of the earliest known references to the name Frommer can be found in the records of the city of Nuremberg, dated 1379. This document mentions a certain "Hanns Frommer," who was a merchant and citizen of the city.

Another notable early bearer of the name was Johannes Frommer, a German theologian and reformer who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was a proponent of the Protestant Reformation and played a significant role in spreading its ideas throughout parts of Germany.

In the 17th century, a family bearing the name Frommer settled in the town of Buttelstedt, located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. This branch of the family produced several notable figures, including Johann Frommer (1620-1677), a Lutheran minister, and his son, Johann Georg Frommer (1661-1736), a renowned composer and organist.

Moving forward to the 19th century, one prominent individual with the surname Frommer was Karl Frommer (1800-1846), a German engineer and inventor who is credited with developing the first successful repeating rifle mechanism. His innovations played a crucial role in the evolution of modern firearms technology.

Another notable figure was the German philosopher and sociologist Ferdinand Frommer (1842-1921), who made significant contributions to the field of social psychology and explored the intersections of sociology, ethics, and psychology.

Throughout its history, the surname Frommer has been associated with various professions and fields, including religion, music, engineering, and academia. While its origins can be traced back to medieval Germany, the name has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and cultural exchange.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Frommer

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

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 Frommer was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 92.01% 530
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.87% 5
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.56% 9
Hispanic Origin 4.34% 25

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 Frommer has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 92.01% 94.39% -2.55%
Black 0.87% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 0.88% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.56% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 4.34% 3.16% 31.47%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Frommer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on February 10, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/frommer-surname-popularity/.

"Frommer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/frommer-surname-popularity/. Accessed 10 February, 2025

Frommer last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/frommer-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.