Freedom
An English virtue name expressing the concept of liberty.
Name Census estimates that about 1,826 living Americans carry the first name Freedom. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 64.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Freedom today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Freedom births was 1975 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Freedom. 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 Freedom with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Freedom sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 187,708 Americans
Peak year
1975
73 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,255
Tracked since 1918
Census
Freedom in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,478 people with the first name Freedom, which placed it at #9,400 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
#9,400
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,478 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Freedom
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Freedom is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Freedom 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 Freedom at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.7% · 749
- Black or African American23.7% · 350
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 161
- Two or more races9.6% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 37
Gender
Gender distribution for Freedom
Freedom is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,892 total registrations, 668 (35.3%) were male and 1,224 (64.7%) were female.
Freedom as a male name
- Ranked #6,255 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (27 births)
Freedom as a female name
- Ranked #9,758 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1976 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Freedom on both sides of the split. Of the 1,488 people counted with this name, 541 were male (36.4%) and 947 were female (63.6%).
Popularity
Freedom: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Freedom from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 517 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Freedom remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Freedom 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 Freedom during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Freedoms live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Freedom, while Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Freedom
The given name Freedom is a relatively modern invention, originating from the English language in the late 18th century. It is derived from the word "free," which traces its roots back to the Proto-Germanic word "frijah," meaning "beloved" or "not in bondage." The concept of freedom, both physical and philosophical, has been a driving force in human societies for centuries, and this name reflects that aspiration.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Freedom is found in the 1790 United States Census, where a woman named Freedom Haywood is listed as residing in Virginia. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the name became popular among African Americans, particularly those who had been emancipated from slavery. It was a symbolic expression of their newfound liberty and a rejection of the dehumanizing practices of the past.
In the realm of literature, the name Freedom appears in the works of notable authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), where a character named Freedom is mentioned. This novel, which shed light on the harsh realities of slavery, further solidified the name's association with the abolitionist movement and the fight for civil rights.
Throughout history, several individuals have borne the name Freedom, leaving their mark in various fields. One notable example is Freedom Upshaw (1869-1945), an African American educator and civil rights activist who dedicated her life to improving educational opportunities for black children in the American South.
Another prominent figure is Freedom du Lac (1839-1923), a Native American leader of the Nez Perce tribe. He played a crucial role in the Nez Perce War of 1877, leading his people in their struggle to preserve their way of life and resist forced relocation by the United States government.
In the world of sports, Freedom Davis (1924-2010) was a pioneering African American athlete who excelled in both baseball and basketball. He broke racial barriers and paved the way for future generations of black athletes.
The name Freedom has also found its way into the arts, with Freedom Jones (1945-1976) being a notable jazz drummer and composer who collaborated with legendary artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
While the name Freedom may not have an extensive historical record compared to more traditional names, its symbolic significance and ties to the pursuit of liberty and human rights have made it a powerful and meaningful choice for many parents over the past two centuries.
People
Freedom + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Freedom 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
Freedom: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Freedom?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,826 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Freedom 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 187,708 US residents.
Is Freedom a common name?
We classify Freedom as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,892 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Freedom most popular?
The single biggest year for Freedom was 1975, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Freedom is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Freedom in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,478 people with the name Freedom, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,400 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 Freedom 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 Freedom?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Freedom on both sides of the split. Of the 1,488 people counted with this name, 541 were male (36.4%) and 947 were female (63.6%). 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 Freedom?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Freedom is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Freedom most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Freedom in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (749 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 Freedom in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Freedom a female name?
Yes, 64.7% of people registered as Freedom 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 Freedom still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Freedom 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 Freedom 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 common is the name Freedom?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.