From Old French 'fraisier' meaning strawberry grower; a Scottish clan surname.
Frazier is an English and Scottish surname of French derivation, believed to descend from "fraisier," the Old French word for a strawberry plant. The Fraser clan of Scotland — one of the great Highland families — likely took their name from this source, possibly carried by a Norman ancestor who bore a strawberry plant on his arms. The clan's motto, "All my hope is in God," sits in notable contrast to the name's botanical sweetness, which speaks to the gap between heraldic symbolism and everyday life.
As a given name, Frazier is most powerfully associated with Joe Frazier, "Smokin' Joe," the heavyweight boxing champion whose epic trilogy of bouts with Muhammad Ali in the 1970s produced some of the most dramatic sporting events of the twentieth century. Frazier fought with relentless, almost poetic determination, and his name became synonymous with grit and refusal to quit. (The television sitcom Frasier — note the different spelling — starring Kelsey Grammer gave the phonetic twin a wry, intellectual image that sits in amusing counterpoint.)
Frazier as a given name occupies an interesting space: it sounds both distinguished and approachable, surname-ish in the way that Carter or Cooper are, but with a slightly rougher, more original edge. It has never been common enough to feel generic, and its associations — Scottish heritage, boxing greatness, a certain tough elegance — make it an evocative choice for parents who want something with substance behind it.