Explore the Family Name Defreest
The meaning of Defreest
Americanized form of French Deforest. This surname is found mainly in NY. Compare Defrees 2 and Defriest. History: The Defreests or DeFreests are descendants of Philip Deforest, born 1652 in New Amsterdam in New Netherland (now New York City, NY), a son of Isaac Deforest from Leyden in the Netherlands, who was of French origin (see Deforest). Philip Deforest settled in Beverwyck (now Albany, NY). The spelling of the surname Deforest was changed to Defreest sometime around 1800 among his descendants in Rensselaer County, NY. A section of the town of Greenbush, NY, was named DeFreestville in honor of the DeFreest family.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Defreest in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Defreest ranked 93,427th in popularity in the year 2000 and slid slightly to 93,921st in 2010, indicating a small decline of 0.53% over that decade. However, the total count of people bearing the surname increased by 7.14%, growing from 182 in 2000 to 195 in 2010. The proportion of individuals with the Defreest name relative to the total U.S. population remained stable at 0.07 per 100k during this period.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #93,427 | #93,921 | -0.53% |
| Count | 182 | 195 | 7.14% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Defreest
The ethnic identity associated with the surname Defreest has also been analyzed using information from the Decennial U.S. Census. In both 2000 and 2010, there were no recorded instances of this surname among individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, having two or more races, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native. The vast majority of individuals with the Defreest surname identified as White, although this percentage declined slightly from 98.35% in 2000 to 94.36% in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 98.35% | 94.36% | -4.06% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Two or More Races | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Hispanic | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Black | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |