Fauna
Referring to the animal life of a particular region or habitat.
Name Census estimates that about 164 living Americans carry the first name Fauna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fauna today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fauna births was 1978 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fauna. 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.
People living today
164
~ 1 in 2,089,965 Americans
Peak year
1978
15 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,554
Tracked since 1967
Popularity
Fauna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fauna from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 59 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Fauna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fauna 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 Fauna 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 Fauna
The name Fauna has its roots in the Latin language, originating from the word "faunus," which was the name of a Roman god of the forest, plains, and fields. The name's earliest known usage dates back to ancient Roman times, around the 8th century BC.
In Roman mythology, Faunus was a horned deity associated with fertility, agriculture, and the cycle of nature. He was believed to protect shepherds and their flocks, and was often depicted as a half-man, half-goat figure. The name Fauna is closely related to this mythological figure and the natural world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fauna can be found in the writings of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BC to 17 AD. In his famous work "Metamorphoses," Ovid mentions the name Fauna in connection with the goddess of fertility and the earth.
Throughout history, the name Fauna has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded was Fauna Bona, a Roman goddess associated with fertility and agricultural abundance, who was worshipped alongside Faunus in ancient times.
In the 16th century, Fauna was the name of an Italian noblewoman, Fauna Bracciolini (1492-1574), who was a renowned poet and scholar during the Renaissance period. She was known for her literary works and contributions to the arts.
Another notable figure was Fauna Cradock (1737-1828), an English poet and writer who published several collections of poems and essays in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
In the realm of science, Fauna Litoria (1820-1892) was a pioneering Italian naturalist and entomologist, known for her groundbreaking research on insects and their habitats.
More recently, Fauna Hodel (1924-1999) was an American author and artist, best known for her memoir "One Day She'll Darken," which detailed her life and her connection to the infamous Black Dahlia murder case in 1940s Los Angeles.
People
Fauna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fauna 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
Fauna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fauna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 164 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fauna 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 2,089,965 US residents.
Is Fauna a common name?
We classify Fauna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 172 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fauna most popular?
The single biggest year for Fauna was 1978, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fauna is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fauna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fauna 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.
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.