Farryn
A variant of the Irish name Fionnúir meaning "fair-haired, white".
Name Census estimates that about 261 living Americans carry the first name Farryn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Farryn today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Farryn births was 2017 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Farryn. 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 Farryn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
261
~ 1 in 1,313,235 Americans
Peak year
2017
24 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,016
Tracked since 1985
Census
Farryn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 232 people with the first name Farryn, which placed it at #34,960 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
#34,960
National first-name rank
People counted
232
232 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Farryn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farryn is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Farryn 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 Farryn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.1% · 165
- Black or African American18.1% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 11
- Two or more races4.3% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
Popularity
Farryn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Farryn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 159 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
Farryn 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 Farryn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Farryn
The name Farryn is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language, specifically the Brythonic branch which was spoken in what is now Wales, Cornwall, and parts of England. The name is thought to be derived from the Old Welsh word "fferyn," meaning "wanderer" or "traveler."
In the early medieval period, the name was likely used as a descriptive term or a nickname for individuals who were known to roam or journey frequently. As time passed, it transitioned from a descriptive term to a given name in its own right.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some scholars suggest that it may have been used in early Welsh bardic poetry or oral traditions, reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of some Celtic tribes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Farryn dates back to the 12th century, when it was borne by a Welsh nobleman named Farryn ap Rhys (born around 1150). He was a prominent figure in the conflicts between the Welsh princes and the Norman invaders during that turbulent period.
Another notable figure with the name Farryn was an Irish poet and bard who lived in the late 16th century. Farryn Ó Buachaill (1560-1635) was renowned for his poetic works that celebrated the traditions and culture of the Gaelic Irish.
In the 17th century, a Scottish explorer named Farryn McLeod (1620-1690) gained fame for his expeditions to the Arctic regions and his detailed accounts of the indigenous peoples he encountered.
Jumping ahead to the 19th century, Farryn Griffith (1835-1912) was a Welsh-American businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the development of the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania.
More recently, Farryn Williams (1901-1988) was a notable Welsh author and playwright, known for her works that explored the experiences of working-class families in industrial Wales.
These examples illustrate the enduring presence of the name Farryn throughout various historical periods and cultures, reflecting its Celtic origins and the diverse paths taken by those who have borne this distinctive moniker.
People
Farryn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Farryn 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
Farryn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Farryn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 261 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Farryn 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 1,313,235 US residents.
Is Farryn a common name?
We classify Farryn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 265 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Farryn most popular?
The single biggest year for Farryn was 2017, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Farryn is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Farryn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 232 people with the name Farryn, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,960 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 Farryn 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 Farryn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Farryn appears almost entirely female. Of the 233 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Farryn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farryn is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Farryn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Farryn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.1% (165 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 Farryn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Farryn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Farryn 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 Farryn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Farryn 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 Farryn 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 Farryn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.