Frederic
Masculine name derived from Germanic elements meaning "peaceful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 7,270 living Americans carry the first name Frederic. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Frederic today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Frederic births was 1947 (299 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Frederic. 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 Frederic with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.3K
~ 1 in 47,146 Americans
Peak year
1947
299 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,879
Tracked since 1880
Census
Frederic in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,345 people with the first name Frederic, which placed it at #2,575 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
#2,575
National first-name rank
People counted
9.3K
9,345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Frederic
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Frederic is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Frederic 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 Frederic at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.6% · 7,628
- Black or African American9.2% · 858
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 376
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 243
- Two or more races2.4% · 221
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 19
Popularity
Frederic: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Frederic from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 2,456 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Frederic 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 Frederic during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Frederics live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. New York, California, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Frederic, while Mississippi, Hawaii, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 274 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Frederic
The name Frederic has its origins in the Germanic languages and can be traced back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German name "Fridu-rīc," which is a compound of the words "fridu" meaning "peace" and "rīc" meaning "power" or "ruler." The name essentially means "peaceful ruler" or "one who rules in peace."
The name gained popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in areas where Germanic languages were spoken, such as modern-day Germany, France, and England. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Frederic I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, who was a Holy Roman Emperor and reigned from 1155 to 1190.
In the Christian tradition, the name Frederic is associated with several saints, including Saint Frederic of Utrecht, a 9th-century bishop and patron saint of the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and Saint Frederic of Regensburg, a 12th-century bishop and patron saint of the city of Regensburg in Germany.
Throughout history, the name Frederic has been borne by numerous notable figures, including:
1. Frederick I (1122-1190), also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was a Holy Roman Emperor and one of the most powerful rulers of medieval Europe.
2. Frederick II (1194-1250), known as Frederick the Great, was a Holy Roman Emperor and one of the most influential figures of the 13th century.
3. Frederick the Wise (1463-1525), was an Elector of Saxony who played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation and protected Martin Luther.
4. Frederick William I (1688-1740), known as the "Soldier King," was the King of Prussia and is remembered for his military reforms and the establishment of Prussia as a major European power.
5. Frederick the Great (1712-1786), was a King of Prussia and a brilliant military strategist who led Prussia to become a major European power during the Enlightenment era.
These are just a few examples of the many notable historical figures who bore the name Frederic. The name has remained popular throughout the centuries and has been used across various cultures and regions, reflecting its enduring appeal and rich historical significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Frederic
People
Frederic + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Frederic 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
Frederic: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Frederic?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Frederic 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 47,146 US residents.
Is Frederic a common name?
We classify Frederic as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Frederic most popular?
The single biggest year for Frederic was 1947, when 299 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Frederic is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Frederic in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,345 people with the name Frederic, or 3.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,575 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 Frederic 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 Frederic?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Frederic appears almost entirely male. Of the 9,345 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Frederic?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Frederic is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Frederic most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Frederic in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (7,628 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 Frederic in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Frederic a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Frederic in the SSA data are male. 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 Frederic still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Frederic 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 Frederic 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 Frederic as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.