Fredericka
A feminine form of Frederick, derived from the Germanic words meaning "peaceful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 1,001 living Americans carry the first name Fredericka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fredericka today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fredericka births was 1947 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fredericka. 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.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 342,412 Americans
Peak year
1947
40 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2004 SSA rank
#13,210
Tracked since 1881
Census
Fredericka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,128 people with the first name Fredericka, which placed it at #11,389 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
#11,389
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,128 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fredericka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fredericka is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Fredericka 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 Fredericka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.7% · 617
- White38.7% · 436
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 29
- Two or more races2.4% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 4
Popularity
Fredericka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fredericka from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 321 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
Fredericka 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 Fredericka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Frederickas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Fredericka, while Georgia, Florida, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fredericka
Fredericka is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old High German name Friederich, which means "peaceful ruler" or "protector of peace." The name Friederich itself is a combination of two elements: "frid," meaning peace, and "ric," meaning ruler or power.
The name Fredericka gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly among the nobility and ruling classes of various Germanic regions, including modern-day Germany, Austria, and parts of France and the Netherlands. It was often bestowed upon daughters of royal or noble families as a symbol of their lineage and status.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fredericka can be found in the 12th century, when it was borne by Fredericka of Saxony, a German noblewoman who lived from around 1142 to 1198. She was the daughter of Albert the Bear, the first Margrave of Brandenburg, and played a significant role in the expansion of the Margraviate during her lifetime.
Another notable figure named Fredericka was Fredericka of Prussia (1767-1820), the eldest daughter of Frederick William II, King of Prussia. She was a renowned patron of the arts and a respected figure in the cultural circles of her time.
In the realm of literature, one of the most famous bearers of the name was Fredericka Bremer (1801-1865), a Swedish writer and feminist pioneer. Her novels and works on gender equality and social reform had a profound impact on the literary and intellectual landscape of 19th century Europe.
Moving to the world of music, Fredericka von Stade (born 1945) is an American mezzo-soprano who has enjoyed a distinguished career in opera, performing leading roles in works by composers such as Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini.
Lastly, in the field of science, Fredericka Meijer (1901-1992) was a Dutch botanist and plant taxonomist who made significant contributions to the study of plant systematics and the classification of plant species in the Netherlands and beyond.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Fredericka, a name steeped in tradition and symbolizing a connection to the Germanic heritage and the ideals of peace and leadership.
People
Fredericka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fredericka 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
Fredericka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fredericka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,001 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fredericka 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 342,412 US residents.
Is Fredericka a common name?
We classify Fredericka as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,957 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fredericka most popular?
The single biggest year for Fredericka was 1947, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fredericka is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fredericka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,128 people with the name Fredericka, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,389 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 Fredericka 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 Fredericka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fredericka appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,127 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Fredericka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fredericka is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Fredericka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fredericka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (617 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 Fredericka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fredericka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fredericka 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 Fredericka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fredericka 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 Fredericka 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 share the name Fredericka?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.