Fred

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Fred \Fred\ (fr[e^]d), n. [AS. fri[eth] peace. See {Frith}
   inclosure.]
   Peace; -- a word used in composition, especially in proper
   names; as, Alfred; Frederic.
   [1913 Webster]

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

fred
 n.

   1. The personal name most frequently used as a {metasyntactic
   variable} (see {foo}). Allegedly popular because it's easy for a
   non-touch-typist to type on a standard QWERTY keyboard. In Great
   Britain, `fred', `jim' and `sheila' are common metasyntactic variables
   because their uppercase versions were official names given to the 3
   memory areas that held I/O status registers on the lovingly-remembered
   BBC Microcomputer! (It is reported that SHEILA was poked the most
   often.) Unlike {J. Random Hacker} or J. Random Loser, the name `fred'
   has no positive or negative loading (but see {Dr. Fred Mbogo}). See
   also {barney}.

   2. An acronym for `Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device'; other
   F-verbs may be substituted for `flipping'.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

FRED

   Robert Carr.  Language used by Framework, Ashton-Tate.

   [{Jargon File}]

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

fred

   1. The personal name most frequently used as a {metasyntactic
   variable} (see {foo}).  Allegedly popular because it's easy
   for a non-touch-typist to type on a standard QWERTY keyboard.
   Unlike {J. Random Hacker} or "J. Random Loser", this name has
   no positive or negative loading (but see {Mbogo, Dr. Fred}).
   See also {barney}.

   2. An acronym for "Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device";
   other F-verbs may be substituted for "flipping".