Faris
A masculine Arabic name meaning "knight" or "mounted warrior."
Name Census estimates that about 2,868 living Americans carry the first name Faris. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Faris today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Faris births was 2017 (133 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Faris. 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 Faris with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Faris is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 119,510 Americans
Peak year
2017
133 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,443
Tracked since 1915
Census
Faris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,003 people with the first name Faris, which placed it at #5,634 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
#5,634
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,003 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Faris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faris is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Faris 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 Faris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.1% · 2,105
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.4% · 342
- Black or African American7.9% · 238
- Two or more races6.7% · 202
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 113
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Faris
Out of the 3,094 babies given the name Faris since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Faris as a male name
- Ranked #1,443 in 2024
- 125 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (133 births)
Faris as a female name
- Ranked #18,533 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 1920 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faris leans strongly male. 2,888 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 109 female bearers (3.6%).
Popularity
Faris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Faris from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,095 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Faris remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Faris 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 Faris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Faris' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Faris, while Minnesota, Indiana, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Faris
The name Faris originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in ancient Arabian culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "faras," which means "knight" or "horseman." The name Faris is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic era, when skilled horsemen played a significant role in battles and the spread of the Islamic faith.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Faris can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. It is mentioned in reference to skilled riders and warriors. This association with bravery and chivalry has contributed to the name's enduring popularity in the Arabic-speaking world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Faris. One of the most famous was Faris al-Khayr (1023-1087), a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer from Persia. His contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry were groundbreaking, and he is credited with introducing the concept of sine and cosine functions.
Another prominent individual with the name Faris was Faris ibn Yahya (1240-1265), a Mamluk sultan who ruled over Egypt and Syria during the 13th century. He was known for his military prowess and for leading successful campaigns against the Crusaders and the Mongols.
In the 14th century, Faris al-Din Aktai (1345-1389) was a powerful military commander in the service of the Mamluk Sultanate. He played a crucial role in defending Cairo against the Mongol invasion and is remembered for his strategic leadership and tactical skills.
Moving forward in time, Faris al-Khoury (1877-1962) was a prominent Lebanese politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Lebanon after the country gained independence from France in 1943.
More recently, Faris Al-Rashid (1933-2017) was a renowned Iraqi poet and writer, known for his contributions to modern Arabic literature. His works explored themes of love, identity, and the human condition, earning him widespread acclaim in the Arab world.
While the name Faris has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly among Muslim communities. The name's association with bravery, honor, and skill in horsemanship has contributed to its enduring appeal across generations.
People
Faris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Faris 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
Faris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Faris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,868 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Faris 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 119,510 US residents.
Is Faris a common name?
We classify Faris as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,094 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Faris most popular?
The single biggest year for Faris was 2017, when 133 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Faris is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Faris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,003 people with the name Faris, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,634 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 Faris 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 Faris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faris leans strongly male. 2,888 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 109 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Faris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faris is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Faris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Faris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (2,105 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 Faris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Faris a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Faris 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 Faris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Faris 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 Faris 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 Faris?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Faris, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.