Fraida
A feminine name of Yiddish origin meaning "joy" or "rejoicing".
Name Census estimates that about 552 living Americans carry the first name Fraida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fraida today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fraida births was 2021 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fraida. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Fraida with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
552
~ 1 in 620,932 Americans
Peak year
2021
36 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,580
Tracked since 1978
Census
Fraida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 391 people with the first name Fraida, which placed it at #24,576 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,576
National first-name rank
People counted
391
391 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fraida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fraida is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Fraida 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Fraida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 377
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
- Black or African American0.5% · 2
Popularity
Fraida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fraida from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 172 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fraida by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fraida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fraidas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fraida
The name Fraida has its origins in the Yiddish language, which was spoken by Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a feminine form of the Hebrew name Ephraim, which means "fruitful" or "productive." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, as Jewish communities in Europe adopted Yiddish and began using variants of Hebrew names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fraida can be found in the 16th century. Fraida Shlomo, a Jewish woman from the town of Krakow in modern-day Poland, is mentioned in historical records from the year 1542. She was a prominent figure in the local Jewish community and is noted for her charitable works and support of Jewish education.
In the 17th century, Fraida Rebeca, a Jewish woman from Amsterdam, Netherlands, gained recognition for her writings and poetry. Born in 1620, she was part of the thriving Sephardic Jewish community in the city and her works provided insight into the cultural and religious life of Jews during that period.
During the 18th century, Fraida Sarah, a Jewish woman from the town of Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania), was known for her expertise in Jewish law and Talmudic studies. Born in 1712, she was highly regarded for her knowledge and often consulted by rabbis and scholars on matters of religious interpretation.
In the 19th century, Fraida Leah, a Jewish woman from the town of Berdychiv in modern-day Ukraine, was renowned for her philanthropic efforts. Born in 1823, she dedicated her life to supporting the local Jewish community, establishing schools, and providing aid to the poor and needy.
Another notable figure from this period was Fraida Rachel, a Jewish woman from the city of Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. Born in 1865, she was a prominent educator and advocate for women's rights, working to improve access to education and opportunities for Jewish women in the region.
While the name Fraida has its roots in the Yiddish language and Jewish culture, it has also been used by non-Jewish communities over time, particularly in areas with significant Jewish populations or influence. However, its historical significance and cultural connections remain deeply rooted in the Jewish diaspora of Central and Eastern Europe.
People
Fraida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fraida as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fraida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fraida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 552 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fraida going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 620,932 US residents.
Is Fraida a common name?
We classify Fraida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 560 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fraida most popular?
The single biggest year for Fraida was 2021, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fraida is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fraida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 391 people with the name Fraida, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,576 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Fraida in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Fraida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fraida appears almost entirely female. Of the 387 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Fraida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fraida is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Fraida most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fraida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (377 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Fraida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fraida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fraida in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Fraida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fraida in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Fraida can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Fraida?
Want to know how many people have the name Fraida? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.