Fred

Where Fred comes from

Fred hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #15 among boys — 1,569 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1885
    Peak, #14
    1,562 babies named Fred — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1915
    Fred Hoyle born
    British astronomer
  4. 1928
    Fred Rogers born
    American television personality
  5. 1977
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #265.
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Fred Rogers · American television personality, 1928–2003
  • Fred Hoyle · British astronomer, 1915–2001
  • Fred Zinnemann · Austrian film director, 1907–1997
  • Fred Thompson · American politician and actor, 1942–2015
  • Fred Durst · American singer, rapper, actor and director, born 1970

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.