Frazer
A surname most often treated as a Scottish form related to Fraser, though some older sources also connect it with French-style name forms.
The #4,585 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,874 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Frazer is usually treated as a spelling variant of Fraser, a well-known Scottish clan surname. Older surname scholars often saw it as ultimately tied to an Old French form such as Frisel or Frisel/Frisell, with later Scottish spelling variation producing Frazer. The modern surname is therefore best understood as a regional spelling development rather than a separate, clearly distinct origin.
History
Historical surname books note Frazer as a common variant in Scotland and Ireland, especially alongside Fraser, Frazier, and Frazar. In some older references it is explicitly treated as a clan name form. In the United States, Frazer and related spellings have remained in use as independent family-name forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 20th-century etymological note says that in Scotland Frazer appears to have developed from an earlier French-looking form by dropping an r sound.
From the historical record
“etc. "PjUfOAl, Frisell, Frizell, Friz- zle, Eraser, Frazer, etc. "PlMuin, Frewin, Frewen. •puinfe, Finch, Funge. ■puiv^eAfc, Forrest, Frost. pui^eAf caI, Forestall, Forrestal,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnamesNotable people named Frazer
- James George Frazer (1854–1941)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.