Frayda
A feminine name of Yiddish origin meaning "joy" or "happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 57 living Americans carry the first name Frayda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Frayda today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Frayda births was 2014 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Frayda. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Frayda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
57
~ 1 in 6,013,234 Americans
Peak year
2014
9 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,584
Tracked since 1939
Census
Frayda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 157 people with the first name Frayda, which placed it at #44,257 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
#44,257
National first-name rank
People counted
157
157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Frayda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Frayda is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Frayda 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 Frayda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.3% · 148
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 5
- Black or African American1.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 2
Popularity
Frayda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Frayda from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Frayda 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 Frayda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fraydas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Frayda
The name Frayda is a feminine given name of Yiddish origin, derived from the Hebrew word "fraidah," which means "joy" or "happiness." It is a variation of the name Freida, which has its roots in the Germanic languages.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Frayda can be traced back to the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a popular name among Ashkenazi Jewish families, who embraced the Yiddish language and culture.
While the name Frayda does not appear in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, it carries a significant cultural and linguistic heritage. The name's meaning, "joy" or "happiness," aligns with the Jewish tradition of celebrating life's joyous moments and finding happiness in the midst of adversity.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Frayda was Frayda Rivkin (1885-1964), a Yiddish writer and poet from Belarus. She was renowned for her contributions to the modern Yiddish literary canon and her depictions of the struggles and resilience of Jewish women.
Another notable figure was Frayda Kalter (1897-1987), a Yiddish actress and singer from Poland. She was a prominent figure in the Yiddish theater scene in New York City and performed in numerous productions, helping to preserve and promote Yiddish culture in the diaspora.
In the realm of academia, Frayda Gafni (1925-2005) was a distinguished Israeli historian and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She specialized in the study of medieval Jewish history and made significant contributions to the understanding of Jewish communities in the Islamic world.
Frayda Lindemann (1943-2021) was an American philosopher and ethicist who explored issues related to bioethics, medical ethics, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies. Her work had a profound impact on the field of applied ethics and the development of ethical guidelines in various domains.
Frayda Levy (born 1958) is a contemporary British artist known for her vibrant and expressive paintings that explore themes of identity, culture, and personal narratives. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United Kingdom and internationally.
While the popularity of the name Frayda has waned in recent decades, it remains a cherished name within the Jewish community, carrying a rich cultural and linguistic heritage that celebrates joy, happiness, and resilience.
People
Frayda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Frayda 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
Frayda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Frayda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 57 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Frayda 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 6,013,234 US residents.
Is Frayda a common name?
We classify Frayda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 74 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Frayda most popular?
The single biggest year for Frayda was 2014, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Frayda is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Frayda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 157 people with the name Frayda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,257 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 Frayda 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 Frayda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Frayda appears almost entirely female. Of the 155 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 Frayda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Frayda is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Frayda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Frayda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (148 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 Frayda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Frayda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Frayda 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 Frayda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Frayda 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 Frayda 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 have the name Frayda?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Frayda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.