Fara
An Arabic feminine name meaning "joy" or "happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 910 living Americans carry the first name Fara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fara today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fara births was 1977 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fara. 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 Fara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
910
~ 1 in 376,653 Americans
Peak year
1977
59 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,392
Tracked since 1914
Census
Fara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,446 people with the first name Fara, which placed it at #9,561 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
#9,561
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,446 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fara is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (13.8%). 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 Fara 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 Fara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.6% · 848
- Hispanic or Latino16.9% · 244
- Black or African American13.8% · 199
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 103
- Two or more races3.3% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Fara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fara from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 269 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fara 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 Fara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Faras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Fara, while New Jersey, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fara
The name Fara originates from the Persian language and can be traced back to ancient Persia, now known as Iran. It is derived from the Old Persian word "fara," which means "noble" or "exalted." The name's earliest known usage dates back to the Achaemenid Empire, which ruled over the Persian territories from the 6th to 4th centuries BCE.
In ancient Persian mythology, Fara was the name of a legendary warrior princess renowned for her bravery and skill in battle. Her name became associated with strength, courage, and nobility. References to Fara can be found in some of the earliest Persian epics and poetry, solidifying its place in the cultural heritage of the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Fara was Fara Shad, a prominent Persian poet and scholar who lived during the 10th century CE. She was renowned for her contributions to the development of Persian literature and was celebrated for her mastery of the art of poetry.
Another notable figure with the name Fara was Fara Bakhsh, a Persian military leader from the 16th century. He served under the Safavid Dynasty and played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the empire's territories.
In the realm of science, Fara Imperato was an Italian naturalist and apothecary who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. She is known for her extensive work on the study and documentation of natural history, particularly in the field of botany.
During the 19th century, Fara Antun was a prominent Lebanese writer, poet, and journalist who played a significant role in the Arab Renaissance (Nahda) movement. Her literary works influenced the cultural and intellectual landscape of the region.
In the 20th century, Fara Fauset was an influential African American writer and literary editor. She was part of the Harlem Renaissance movement and made significant contributions to the advancement of African American literature and cultural expression.
People
Fara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fara 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
Fara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 910 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fara 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 376,653 US residents.
Is Fara a common name?
We classify Fara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,087 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fara most popular?
The single biggest year for Fara was 1977, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fara is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,446 people with the name Fara, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,561 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 Fara 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 Fara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fara leans strongly female. 1,399 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 45 male bearers (3.1%). 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 Fara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fara is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (13.8%). 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 Fara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (848 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 Fara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fara 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 Fara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fara 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 Fara 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 have the name Fara?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.