Farwa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "flower" or "fragrant plant".
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Farwa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Farwa today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Farwa births was 2023 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Farwa. 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 Farwa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Farwa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
2023
7 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,553
Tracked since 2003
Census
Farwa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Farwa, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Farwa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farwa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (2.8%). 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 Farwa 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 Farwa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.3% · 195
- Two or more races5.6% · 12
- White2.8% · 6
- Black or African American0.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 1
Popularity
Farwa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Farwa from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 13 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Farwa 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 Farwa 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 Farwa
The name Farwa is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "farwa" which means "soft and delicate." It is a name that has been in use for centuries, particularly in the Middle Eastern and North African regions where Arabic culture and language have had a significant influence.
The earliest recorded use of the name Farwa can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. It was a popular name among Arab women, often given to daughters who were seen as gentle and graceful in nature.
In Islamic literature and historical records, there are references to several notable figures named Farwa. One of the earliest known was Farwa bint al-Qasim, a 7th-century Arab woman who was renowned for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the field of hadith (prophetic traditions).
Another prominent figure was Farwa al-Andalusiya, a 10th-century Spanish Arab poet and scholar from the city of Córdoba. She was highly regarded for her literary works and her contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the Andalusian region.
In the 12th century, Farwa bint Muhammad al-Qudsi was a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar from Damascus. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her writings on Islamic mysticism.
Moving to more recent times, Farwa Hussain was a Pakistani educationist and social activist who lived from 1923 to 1992. She played a significant role in promoting women's education and empowerment in Pakistan.
Farwa Rizvi, born in 1955, is a Pakistani actress and television host who has been active in the entertainment industry for several decades. She is considered a pioneer of Pakistani television and has won numerous awards for her contributions to the arts.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Farwa. While its usage may have varied across different regions and time periods, the name has maintained its essence of softness, delicacy, and grace, reflecting the cultural values and traditions of its Arabic origins.
People
Farwa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Farwa 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
Farwa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Farwa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Farwa 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Farwa a common name?
We classify Farwa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Farwa most popular?
The single biggest year for Farwa was 2023, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Farwa is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Farwa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Farwa, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Farwa 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 Farwa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Farwa appears almost entirely female. Of the 217 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 Farwa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farwa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (2.8%). 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 Farwa most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Farwa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (195 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 Farwa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Farwa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Farwa 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 Farwa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Farwa 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 Farwa 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 Farwa?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Farwa at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.