Surname Fraiser - Meaning and Origin
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Fraiser: What does the surname Fraiser mean?
The last name Fraiser is a French topographical surname derived from the Old French word ‘frasi’ meaning 'stump or cross section of a tree'. This suggests that an ancestor of the Fraiser family may have lived near a post or stake created by a section of a cut down tree.
The surname Fraiser can also be traced to a French geographic location such as the commune of Fresières in the department of Calvados in Normandy. Residents of the area were typically referred to as the de Fresière, which was later adapted as a surname.
The last name Fraiser may also refer to the French word ‘frère’ which means 'brother'. This could indicate that the first bearers of the name may have been brothers or from a family of brothers.
Fraiser is a common surname in France and elsewhere in Europe. In England the surname is known to have existed since at least the 16th century. It is also commonly found in the United States and Canada where it is believed to have initially been brought by immigrants from France.
Overall, the last name Fraiser has a long and varied history across Europe. Its etymology suggests an ancestral connection with a location, a family of brothers or post created from a cut down tree.
Order DNA origin analysisFraiser: Where does the name Fraiser come from?
The last name Fraiser is not particularly common today, but it does have pockets of concentration in certain parts of the world. In North America, the most frequent concentration of the name Fraiser is found in the United States and Canada. In the United States, 42,833 people carried the last name Fraiser as of the 2010 Census. Most of these individuals were concentrated in Texas, with over 5,000 people carrying the name and nearly 2,000 living in the state of Illinois. In Canada, the counted population of Fraiser in the 2016 Census was 767, with most of these people living in Ontario.
Outside of North America, the countries with the highest concentrations of the Fraiser surname are France (10,500) and England (2,507). The remaining countries that reported the presence of the Fraiser surname in numbers of over few hundred were Austria (873), Switzerland (531), New Zealand (496), Czech Republic (453), Ireland (392), Slovakia (370), and Croatia (324). Moreover, the Fraiser surname may also be found in smaller numbers in the Spanish-speaking countries of Spain, Argentina, and Mexico.
Variations of the surname Fraiser
Variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin for the surname Fraiser are Frazier, Frazer, Fraizier, Frazier, Frezier, Frasier, Freser and Frayser.
Frazier is the most common spelling of this surname in America, derived from the medieval French word "frises". It may have originally referred to someone who made or sold frises, a type of French cake. This surname is derived from the Old French word frise, or "curly head of hair," which nod to the Frisian people, a Germanic ethnic group living in what is now the northern Netherlands and nearby regions. Much of the population of the south and west of Scotland are descended from Frisians who moved here in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Frazer and Frasier are variant spellings of the name, but the pronunciation is usually still pronounced as "fray-zer". Frezier or Freser may be regional variants of Fraiser, Frezier being seen mostly in the United States, while Freser is associated with Germany. Frayser is another variant, most common in the United Kingdom.
Although the Fraiser surname is somewhat rare in the United States, it is sometimes found among Native American tribes. Historically, it was adopted by some Native Americans after the Civil War, and may have derived from a French surname. The surname is also sometimes spelled Frayser.
The surname Fraiser may also have some Irish roots. In the 16th century, there were some Fraiser families in the Connacht province of Ireland. This spelling evolved over time, and some families today spell it Frizier in certain parts of the country.
No matter what variant of this surname is used, all of these spellings are ultimately rooted in the Old French word frise and Frisian people of northern Netherlands and beyond.
Famous people with the name Fraiser
- Kelsey Grammer: American actor, producer, director, writer, and voice artist best known for playing Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcoms Cheers and Frasier
- Kay Hill Frasier: First African-American woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics
- Edith “Edie” Frasier: American singer and songwriter
- Patricia A. Frasier: American journalist and author
- Brad Frasier: Former professional golfer
- Michael Frazier II: American basketball player
- Fred Frazier: Former American football guard
- Leah Frazier: American recording artist
- Rod Frazier: American football defensive back
- Whitney Frasier: American singer, actress, writer and visual artist
- Shannon Frasier: American Professional Wrestler
- Kenneth Frazier: American business executive
- David Frazier: Senior pentathlete
- Ernest S. Frazier: Landscape painter
- Bellangere Frasier: French actor
- Kristen Frazier: Mobile game designer