Faith
A feminine name of Latin origin signifying trust, belief, or confidence.
Name Census estimates that about 132,051 living Americans carry the first name Faith. It sits at #249 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Faith today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Faith births was 2003 (5,612 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Faith. 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 Faith with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Faith is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 283 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
132K
~ 1 in 2,596 Americans
Peak year
2003
5,612 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#249
Tracked since 1880
Census
Faith in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 119,725 people with the first name Faith, which placed it at #470 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#470
National first-name rank
People counted
120K
119,725 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
39.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Faith
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faith is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Hispanic (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Faith described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Faith at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.2% · 73,328
- Black or African American17.4% · 20,810
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 13,337
- Two or more races5.5% · 6,621
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 4,418
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1,211
Gender
Gender distribution for Faith
Out of the 146,868 babies given the name Faith since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Faith as a male name
- Ranked #9,237 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (27 births)
Faith as a female name
- Ranked #249 in 2024
- 1,272 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (5,597 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faith appears almost entirely female. Of the 119,725 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Faith: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Faith from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48,887 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Faith 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 Faith during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Faiths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Faith, while Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,788 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Faith
The name Faith originates from the Latin word "fides" meaning trust, belief, or confidence. It stems from the root word "fid" which means to trust or have faith. The name first emerged in medieval Europe during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century.
Faith has its roots in Christianity and was initially a virtue name, representing one of the three theological virtues along with hope and charity. The name gained popularity among Christians who wanted to express their religious devotion and unwavering faith in God.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Faith can be found in the 16th century, when Faith Waldo, an English Protestant martyr, was burned at the stake in 1556 for her religious beliefs during the Marian Persecutions.
In the 17th century, Faith Robinson Trumbull (1718-1780) was a notable figure in colonial America, known for her role in establishing Yale College and her philanthropic efforts.
Faith Whittlesey (1939-2018) was an American diplomat and politician who served as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 1981 to 1988.
Faith Ringgold (born 1930) is an influential American artist and author, best known for her narrative quilts that depict stories of African American life and history.
Faith Hubley (1924-2001) was an American animator, writer, and director, renowned for her independent and experimental animated films that explored social and political themes.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who carried the name Faith, reflecting its deep-rooted connection to religious beliefs, unwavering trust, and personal convictions.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Faith
People
Faith + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Faith 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
Faith: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Faith?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132,051 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Faith 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 2,596 US residents.
Is Faith a common name?
We classify Faith as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 146,868 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Faith most popular?
The single biggest year for Faith was 2003, when 5,612 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Faith is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Faith in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 119,725 people with the name Faith, or 39.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #470 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Faith in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Faith?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faith appears almost entirely female. Of the 119,725 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Faith?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faith is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Hispanic (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Faith most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Faith in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (73,328 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Faith in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Faith a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Faith 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 Faith still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Faith 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 Faith 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.
How many people are named Faith?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.