Fritzgerald
A compound Germanic masculine name combining the elements "fridu" (peace) and "gard" (enclosure).
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Fritzgerald. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fritzgerald today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fritzgerald births was 1970 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fritzgerald. 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 Fritzgerald. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
1970
8 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2004 SSA rank
#11,944
Tracked since 1964
Census
Fritzgerald in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Fritzgerald, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fritzgerald
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fritzgerald is Black at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.0% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.5% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 7
- White1.0% · 2
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Fritzgerald: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fritzgerald from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Fritzgerald remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fritzgerald
The given name Fritzgerald is a relatively modern construction that does not have a direct origin in any particular language or culture. It appears to be a combination of the Germanic name Fritz, a diminutive form of the name Friedrich (meaning "peaceful ruler"), and the English surname Fitzgerald, which is derived from the Gaelic name Gerallt (meaning "ruler of the spear").
There are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention the name Fritzgerald directly. However, the name components Fritz and Fitzgerald have their own histories and associations.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fritzgerald is difficult to pinpoint due to its relatively recent coinage. It is not a name that appears frequently in historical records or literature. However, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this first name over the past century or so.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Fritzgerald was Fritzgerald Farhad, an American artist and sculptor who lived from 1892 to 1972. He was known for his works in various media, including wood, stone, and metal.
Another notable individual with the name was Fritzgerald Zeller, a German-American chemist who lived from 1905 to 1989. He made significant contributions to the field of polymer chemistry and held several patents related to synthetic fibers and plastics.
In the realm of sports, Fritzgerald "Fritz" Pollard was an American football player and coach who lived from 1894 to 1986. He was one of the first African American players in the National Football League (NFL) and also served as a head coach for several teams.
Fritzgerald "Fritz" Reiner was an Hungarian-American conductor and pianist who lived from 1888 to 1963. He was known for his interpretations of works by composers such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Johannes Brahms.
Finally, Fritzgerald "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-American violinist and composer who lived from 1875 to 1962. He was renowned for his virtuosic playing and composed numerous works for the violin, including concertos and solo pieces.
While the name Fritzgerald may not have a long historical lineage, these individuals have contributed to various fields and helped establish the name's presence in modern times.
People
Fritzgerald + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fritzgerald 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
Fritzgerald: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fritzgerald?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fritzgerald 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Fritzgerald a common name?
We classify Fritzgerald as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fritzgerald most popular?
The single biggest year for Fritzgerald was 1970, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fritzgerald is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fritzgerald in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Fritzgerald, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fritzgerald appears almost entirely male. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Fritzgerald?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fritzgerald is Black at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Fritzgerald most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fritzgerald in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (154 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 Fritzgerald in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fritzgerald a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald 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 Fritzgerald?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.