Falcon
A powerful bird of prey, representing strength and agility.
Name Census estimates that about 509 living Americans carry the first name Falcon. It is a predominantly male name (95.5% of registrations). The average person named Falcon today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Falcon births was 2020 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Falcon. 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 Falcon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
509
~ 1 in 673,388 Americans
Peak year
2020
29 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,920
Tracked since 1961
Census
Falcon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 478 people with the first name Falcon, which placed it at #21,306 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
#21,306
National first-name rank
People counted
478
478 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Falcon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falcon is White at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Falcon 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 Falcon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.1% · 254
- Hispanic or Latino16.7% · 80
- Two or more races11.1% · 53
- Black or African American8.2% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.7% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Falcon
Falcon leans heavily male at 95.5% of total registrations, but 23 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Falcon as a male name
- Ranked #4,920 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (29 births)
Falcon as a female name
- Ranked #13,359 in 2016
- 7 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Falcon leans strongly male. 400 people counted with this name were male (84.2%), compared with 75 female bearers (15.8%).
Popularity
Falcon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Falcon from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 217 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Falcon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Falcon 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 Falcon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Falcons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Falcon
The name Falcon originated from the Latin word "falco" which means "hawk" or "falcon". This name has its roots in Ancient Roman culture and was likely given to children as a symbolic representation of strength, power, and keen vision associated with these majestic birds of prey.
In the Middle Ages, the name Falcon was occasionally used in Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Latin and Romance languages. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Falcon de Longueville, a Norman nobleman who lived in the late 11th century and participated in the First Crusade.
During the Renaissance period, the name Falcon gained popularity among European aristocracy and nobility. It was seen as a noble and dignified name, often bestowed upon those of noble birth or military prowess. In Italy, Falcon Gaudenzio was a notable painter and architect from the 16th century, known for his frescoes and architectural designs.
In the 17th century, the name Falcon was adopted by some Puritan families in England and America, who sought to give their children names with biblical or virtuous meanings. One example is Falcon Townsend, an early settler in Massachusetts Bay Colony, who was born in 1597.
Throughout history, the name Falcon has been associated with various notable figures, such as Falcon de Baraute, a 13th-century French nobleman and crusader, and Falcon Browne, an Irish aristocrat and politician who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Another prominent individual with this name was Falcon Hildred, an English philosopher and mathematician born in 1635, known for his contributions to the development of calculus and his work on the theory of probability.
In more recent times, the name Falcon has been used across various cultures and regions, often chosen for its symbolic meaning and association with strength, freedom, and the natural world.
People
Falcon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Falcon 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
Falcon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Falcon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 509 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Falcon 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 673,388 US residents.
Is Falcon a common name?
We classify Falcon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 516 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Falcon most popular?
The single biggest year for Falcon was 2020, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Falcon is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Falcon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 478 people with the name Falcon, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,306 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 Falcon 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 Falcon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Falcon leans strongly male. 400 people counted with this name were male (84.2%), compared with 75 female bearers (15.8%). 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 Falcon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falcon is White at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Falcon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Falcon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.1% (254 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 Falcon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Falcon a male name?
Yes, 95.5% of people registered as Falcon in the SSA data are male. 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 Falcon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Falcon 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 Falcon 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 Americans are named Falcon?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Falcon at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.