Farhan
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "joy" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 1,726 living Americans carry the first name Farhan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Farhan today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Farhan births was 2024 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Farhan. 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 Farhan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 198,583 Americans
Peak year
2024
69 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,136
Tracked since 1976
Census
Farhan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,052 people with the first name Farhan, which placed it at #5,569 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
#5,569
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,052 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
74.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Farhan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farhan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and White (7.6%). 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 Farhan 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 Farhan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander74.1% · 2,261
- Black or African American14.4% · 440
- White7.6% · 233
- Two or more races3.0% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
Popularity
Farhan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Farhan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 552 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Farhan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Farhan 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 Farhan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Farhans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Farhan, while Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 98 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Farhan
The name Farhan is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "farhan," which means "joy" or "happiness." It is believed to have emerged during the early years of Islam, around the 7th century AD.
The name Farhan gained popularity in the Middle East and throughout the Islamic world, where it was commonly bestowed upon newborn boys as a symbol of the joy and happiness they brought to their families.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Farhan can be found in the works of renowned Arabic poets and scholars from the 8th and 9th centuries. These literary works often celebrated the virtues of happiness and contentment, making the name Farhan a fitting choice for those seeking to embody these ideals.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Farhan. One such individual was Farhan al-Kindi, a renowned scholar and mathematician who lived during the 9th century AD. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebra, optics, and philosophy, and his works were widely studied in the Islamic world.
Another prominent figure with the name Farhan was Farhan al-Maliki, a 12th-century jurist and legal scholar from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). His expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his efforts to reconcile different legal schools of thought earned him widespread respect and admiration.
In the literary realm, Farhan Akhtar, an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter born in 1974, has achieved remarkable success. His critically acclaimed films, such as "Dil Chahta Hai" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara," have garnered numerous awards and accolades.
Farhan Qureshi, a Pakistani businessman and philanthropist born in 1968, is also noteworthy for his contributions to education and social welfare initiatives in his country. His efforts have positively impacted countless lives, exemplifying the spirit of joy and happiness associated with his name.
Lastly, Farhan Akhtar, an Emirati cricketer born in 1990, has made his mark in the world of sports. He has represented the United Arab Emirates national cricket team in various international tournaments and is widely recognized for his exceptional batting skills.
From scholars and jurists to artists and athletes, the name Farhan has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds, each leaving their unique mark on history and embodying the essence of joy and happiness that the name represents.
People
Farhan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Farhan 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
Farhan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Farhan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,726 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Farhan 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 198,583 US residents.
Is Farhan a common name?
We classify Farhan as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,752 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Farhan most popular?
The single biggest year for Farhan was 2024, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Farhan is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Farhan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,052 people with the name Farhan, or 1.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,569 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 Farhan 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 Farhan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Farhan leans strongly male. 3,018 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 43 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Farhan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farhan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and White (7.6%). 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 Farhan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Farhan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.1% (2,261 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 Farhan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Farhan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Farhan 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 Farhan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Farhan 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 Farhan 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 Farhan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.