Frederic
Masculine · “peaceful ruler”
Frederic is the French spelling of peaceful rule — a Germanic compound that put a word for peace next to a word for power, which is a more interesting pairing than it looks.
How old is the name Frederic?
Frederic was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Frederic alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 7,000 people named Frederic are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Frederic most popular?
Frederic peaked in 1885, reaching #298 nationally. Today it ranks #2941, 2,643 places below that high. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From frid + ric to Frederic
The story of Frederic
Friedrich was a name of German and then Prussian royalty, and French took it as Frédéric — Chopin signed himself Frédéric François. The Hanoverian succession brought the name into English use, and French and French-Canadian families brought the -ic spelling to America, where it appears in the registers alongside Frederick and peaked around 1918.
Meaning
peaceful ruler
From the Germanic frid, 'peace' or 'protection', and ric, 'ruler' or 'power'. The ric element is cognate with the Latin rex and the Sanskrit raja; frid ends Siegfried and Wilfred. The compound describes rule that keeps the peace rather than rule by force.
How the name formed
- frid + ric
- Friedrich
- Frédéric
- Frederic
Related forms: Frédéric · Frederick · Friedrich · Federico
Pronouncing Frederic
FRED-rik
Two syllables in English, stress on the first. French says fray-day-REEK with three and the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Frederic
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1942257 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #298reached in 1885
- Change vs 2022
- +20.0%42 in 2025, from 35
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Frederic in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Frédéric in French — same name
- Frederick in English — spelling variant
- Friedrich in German — related form
- Federico in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Frederics among us
people named Frederic are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 40,668 born in 2025 was named Frederic
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Frederic
- #2941
- Frederic on the 2025 chart
- #378
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Frederic went to 42 boys in 2025, but Frederick and Frederik are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 799, which makes it the 378th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,563 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 2,138 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 40,668 for Frederic itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Frederic sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Frederic is headed
Frederic should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Frederic beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Frederic in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented royal record across Germany, Prussia, France and Britain.
- The meaning is transparent and both elements are thoroughly documented.
- Fred and Fritz are two short forms at very different registers.
- Frederick is the standard English spelling and will be assumed.
- The French and English pronunciations differ in syllable count and stress.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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Frederic
Masculine · #2941 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Frederics are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,000 people named Frederic are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Frederic?
- Frederic is one of 3 recorded spellings. Frederick is the more common one — 728 births in 2025 against 42 for Frederic.
- How popular is the name Frederic in 2025?
- Frederic ranks #2941 among US boy names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Frederic?
- About 1 in every 40,668 US boys born in 2025 was named Frederic — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Frederic with classmates?
- Frederic will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Frederic
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Prescott#2941 · Kwame#2941 · Michelangelo#2941 · Jahan#2941 · Kairi#2941 · Yonah#2941 · Nihal#2941 · Reyes#2941
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Frederic? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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