Frith
A northern English surname meaning “woodland” or, in some cases, “peace,” often tied to local places and boundaries.
The #9,068 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 85,667 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Frith is an old northern English word that could mean a wooded place, copse, or enclosed piece of land; in surname work it is often treated as a local topographic name, 'one who lived by the frith.' Some older writers also connected it with Old English frith, 'peace,' but that is more securely a common noun and personal-name element than the usual surname explanation. The surname may therefore have arisen in more than one way, with place-based and word-based origins both possible in different families.
History
Bardsley and Lower both treat Frith as a local surname, and Bardsley links it with the related form Firth, found in medieval Yorkshire records as 'del Pirth' and similar spellings. The name is especially associated with northern England, where 'frith' survived in local speech and place-names. In modern usage, Frith is established in Britain and also appears in the United States, though it remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The place-name Chapel-en-le-Frith literally contains the same old word, helping preserve the surname’s historical sense in the landscape.
From the historical record
“FRISTON. A parish in Sussex. FRITH. See under Fell. FROBISHER. A furbisher or polisher of metals. ¥v. fourhisscur, an artizan who polishes and mounts swords ; a sword cutler. Boyer. In the Promptorium we read, " Foorbysehowre, eruginator," one who removes rust. The transijosition of the 0 and the r has many…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom