origins
English (chiefly south and southwestern England)
variant of Free, from the Old English byform frig. English: nickname for a small person, from Middle English fry ‘small person’, ‘child’, ‘offspring’ (Old Norse frjó ‘seed’).
American
Americanized spelling of German Frei, Frey.
notable family members
- John Fry (1609 - 1657) was one of the regicides who participated in the judgement and subsequent decapitation of King Charles I in 1649.
- Stephen Fry (1954 - ) (descendant of the aforementioned John)
- Richard Amherst Fry (1838 - 1898) the great American pioneer and explorer (descendant of the aforementioned John