Scottish: apparently a nickname from Anglo-Norman French fraser(e), fresere ‘strawberry plant’. Fresel and Frisel, from Anglo-Norman French fresel ‘strawberry’, are early variants of the Fraser surname, the modern Gaelicized form of which is Friseal. See Frizzell . The crest on the Scottish family's coat of arms takes the form of a strawberry plant, but its antiquity is unknown. Claims of a habitational derivation, in particular from a place called la Frézelière in Anjou (France), are attractive but they lack verifiable evidence.

Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames.

History: There are two clans Fraser in Scotland, with common ancestry going back to Simon Fraser of Keith in East Lothian, who lived in the 12th century. One of these clans has its seat at Philorth Castle (subsequently re-named Cairnbulg) on the northeast coast of Scotland. Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th laird of Philorth (c. 1536–1623) converted the fishing village of Faithlie into the burgh of Fraserburgh in the 1590s. The other clan is Fraser of Lovat, associated mainly with the city of Inverness are. They are descended from Simon Fraser, a younger son, who lived in the early 14th century. In Gaelic, the head of Clan Fraser of Lovat is known as Mac Shimi ‘son of Simon’.