Spanish and Portuguese: from a Germanic personal name composed of a metathesized form of frið ‘peace’ (or farð ‘journey’, ‘expedition’) + nanð ‘daring’, ‘boldness’. See also Ferdinand. This family name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

GIVEN NAMES: Spanish 23%; Indian 12%. Jose (4), Manuel (4), Luis (3), Orlando (3), Aida (2), Carlos (2), Jesusa (2), Rodolfo (2), Ruben (2), Adela, Alfredo, Alicia; Rohan (6), Lalith (3), Nimal (2), Rajiv (2), Sanjeeva (2), Shanthi (2), Anil, Anusha, Dushan, Kapila, Lakshman, Mallika.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.