The

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

“Fryar” has its earliest origins in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, first appearing in the 14th century. The name was also found in

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scott ...

where they were seated from early recorded times and their first records appear on the census rolls taken by the early Kings to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects. The name was given to a person who was a

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

. The surname Fryar was derived from the old

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

word "''frère''", which means "''brother''" in English and dates from the 13th century. The French word "''frère''" in turn comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

word "''frater''", which also means "''brother''". One reason for the variation in spelling is that medieval

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

lacked definite spelling rules. Names were rarely spelled consistently during these times when most people were

illiterate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

s and

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to specific rules and consequently, the variant surname Fryar first appeared.House of Names (2008)
''Fryar Family Crest and Name History''
Retrieved on 29 December 2008. Fryar is a relatively common surname in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. This was due in part to the significant

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanent ...

of influential

protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

from

to Northern Ireland following the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

. Fryars were some of the first immigrants to arrive in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

during the 18th century and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in the 19th century. Consequently, the frequency of the surname is now greater in both these two countries compared to its English origin. Retrieved 25 January 2014

People with the surname

Albert Fryar Albert Edmund Fryar (2 December 1875 – 23 July 1944) was a noted South Australian philatelist and sportsman.

(1875–1944), Australian philatelist and sportsman *

Chris Fryar Chris Fryar (born November 22, 1970) is an American drummer. He is a member of Zac Brown Band. He has also worked with Oteil and the Peacemakers, led by bassist Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Band, Charles Neville, Victor Wooten, ...

(born 1970), US jazz entertainer * Elmer E. Fryar (1915–1944), US Medal of Honor recipient * Freddy Fryar (born 1936), US racing car driver pioneer * Godfrey Fryar (born 1950), Australian Anglican bishop * Hal Fryar (1927–2017), US actor and television personality *

Irving Fryar Irving Dale Fryar, Sr. (born September 28, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. Fryar played college football for the Universit ...

(born 1962), retired US pro football player * Pearl Fryar (born 1939), US topiary artist * Samuel Fryar (1863–1938), Irish solicitor and politician * Steve Fryar (1953–2017), US professional rodeo cowboy *

William Fryar William Fryar (25 January 1828 – 22 December 1912) was an early Australian surveyor, politician, businessman and mining inspector in Queensland, Australia. Biography Fryar was born on 25 January 1828 at Willington, Northumberland, England, ...

(1828–1912), Australian surveyor and politician

People with the surname

References

See also