# Fear (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/fear/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,493 |
| US rank (2010) | 18,502 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 206,795 people |
| Change since 2000 | -13.6% (1,729 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from an obsolete noun meaning "traveler," represented in the second half of Old English gefera (“comrade, companion”). * Also as an English surname, from the root of the adjective fierce, and occasionally from the noun fear. * Also as an English surname, from the noun ferry. * Occasionally as an English surname of Norman origin, from La Fère in Aisne, possibly from Latin feretrum (“bier”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Fear in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.1% |

## Similar surnames

Farr, Fair, Ferry, Ferro, Fehr, Ferri, Feria, Feuer, Fero, Feher, Fry, Frye.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.