Fardowsa
A Somali feminine name meaning "paradise" or "heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Fardowsa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fardowsa today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fardowsa births was 2015 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fardowsa. 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 Fardowsa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
2015
12 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,666
Tracked since 1999
Census
Fardowsa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 595 people with the first name Fardowsa, which placed it at #18,189 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
#18,189
National first-name rank
People counted
595
595 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
98.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fardowsa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fardowsa is Black at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Fardowsa 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 Fardowsa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American98.3% · 585
- Two or more races1.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Fardowsa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fardowsa from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 63 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fardowsa 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 Fardowsa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fardowsas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fardowsa
The name Fardowsa is a Somali feminine given name derived from the Arabic word "فردوس" (Firdaws), meaning "paradise" or "garden of Eden". This name has its roots in the Quranic Arabic language and the Islamic faith.
Fardowsa is believed to have originated in the Horn of Africa region, particularly in Somalia, where the Somali language and culture have a strong influence from Arabic due to the spread of Islam in the region. The name is often associated with beauty, purity, and the concept of a heavenly paradise.
In Islamic tradition, the word "Firdaws" is mentioned in the Quran as a reference to the highest level of paradise, reserved for the most righteous believers. This connection to the Islamic sacred text has contributed to the name's popularity among Muslim communities, including Somalis.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fardowsa can be found in the Somali oral tradition and literature, where it has been used for centuries. However, written records of the name's usage may date back to the medieval period, when Arabic influence was strong in the region.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Fardowsa. One prominent example is Fardowsa Aden, a Somali writer and activist born in the 1960s, known for her contributions to Somali literature and advocacy for women's rights.
Another noteworthy individual with this name is Fardowsa Mohamed Aden, a Somali politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia from 2011 to 2014.
In the realm of Somali music, Fardowsa Haji Qoor, a renowned singer and songwriter born in the 1940s, has made significant contributions to the country's cultural heritage.
Fardowsa Osman Nour, a Somali scholar and educator born in the 1960s, has also left her mark through her work in promoting education and empowering women in Somalia.
Lastly, Fardowsa Ali Haji, a Somali athlete born in the 1980s, has represented her country in international competitions, including the Olympic Games, and has brought pride to the Somali community through her achievements in sports.
People
Fardowsa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fardowsa 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
Fardowsa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fardowsa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fardowsa 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Fardowsa a common name?
We classify Fardowsa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fardowsa most popular?
The single biggest year for Fardowsa was 2015, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fardowsa is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fardowsa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 595 people with the name Fardowsa, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,189 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 Fardowsa 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 Fardowsa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fardowsa appears almost entirely female. Of the 602 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Fardowsa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fardowsa is Black at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Fardowsa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fardowsa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (585 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 Fardowsa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fardowsa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fardowsa 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 Fardowsa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fardowsa 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 Fardowsa 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 common is the name Fardowsa?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Fardowsa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.