Fahren
A German name derived from the verb "to travel or drive".
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Fahren. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fahren today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fahren births was 1987 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fahren. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Fahren with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fahren. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1987
7 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,008
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Fahren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fahren from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Fahren remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fahren by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fahren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fahren
The name Fahren finds its origins in the German language, derived from the verb "fahren," which means "to travel" or "to drive." This name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, in Germanic-speaking regions of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fahren can be found in the medieval German epic poem "Das Nibelungenlied" (The Song of the Nibelungs), written around 1200 AD. In this work, the character Fahren is mentioned as a knight in the service of King Gunther. While not a central figure, his inclusion in this seminal text suggests the name's usage during this era.
In the 14th century, a notable individual named Fahren von Strassburg was a prominent German architect and master builder. He is credited with the design and construction of several notable structures, including the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) in Heidelberg, Germany, which was completed in 1398.
Moving into the Renaissance period, Fahren Kunz (born circa 1470) was a German painter and printmaker from Nuremberg. He is best known for his intricate woodcut illustrations, which often depicted religious scenes and biblical narratives. Kunz's work was highly regarded during his lifetime and is now held in various museum collections worldwide.
In the 17th century, Fahren Kettler (1622-1682) was a German military officer and statesman who served as the Duke of Courland and Semigallia (modern-day Latvia). He played a significant role in the Northern Wars and was instrumental in securing Courland's independence from Swedish rule.
Another notable figure with the name Fahren was Fahren von Humboldt (1769-1859), a Prussian polymath, geographer, naturalist, and explorer. He is renowned for his extensive travels throughout the Americas, during which he made significant contributions to the fields of geography, botany, and anthropology. Von Humboldt's detailed observations and writings helped shape our understanding of the natural world and laid the foundation for modern scientific exploration.
People
Fahren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fahren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fahren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fahren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fahren going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Fahren a common name?
We classify Fahren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fahren most popular?
The single biggest year for Fahren was 1987, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fahren is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Fahren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fahren a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fahren in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Fahren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fahren in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Fahren can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Fahren?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.