Favor
A feminine name derived from the Latin word meaning goodwill or kindness.
Name Census estimates that about 612 living Americans carry the first name Favor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Favor today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Favor births was 2022 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Favor. 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 Favor with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
612
~ 1 in 560,056 Americans
Peak year
2022
41 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,488
Tracked since 2002
Census
Favor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 614 people with the first name Favor, which placed it at #17,775 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
#17,775
National first-name rank
People counted
614
614 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Favor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Favor is Black at 89.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Favor 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 Favor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.1% · 547
- White4.9% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 10
- Two or more races1.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Favor
Favor is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 617 total registrations, 130 (21.1%) were male and 487 (78.9%) were female.
Favor as a male name
- Ranked #9,241 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (14 births)
Favor as a female name
- Ranked #4,488 in 2024
- 31 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Favor on both sides of the split. Of the 613 people counted with this name, 126 were male (20.6%) and 487 were female (79.4%).
Popularity
Favor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Favor from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 300 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Favor remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Favor 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 Favor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Favors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Maryland recorded the most babies named Favor, while Maryland, North Carolina, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Favor
The name Favor is derived from the Latin word "favor," which means "kindness" or "goodwill." It has its roots in ancient Roman culture, where the concept of favor was closely tied to the gods and their perceived benevolence towards mortals.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Favor gained popularity as a symbolic representation of divine grace and favor bestowed upon believers. It was often used as a name for children, expressing the hope that they would receive God's blessings and protection throughout their lives.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Favor can be found in the Codex Theodosianus, a compilation of Roman laws dating back to the 5th century AD. In this text, a certain Flavius Favor is mentioned as a high-ranking official in the imperial court.
During the Middle Ages, the name Favor was relatively uncommon, but it did appear in various historical records and chronicles. One notable individual bearing this name was Favor de Valois, a French nobleman who lived in the 13th century and served as a knight in the court of King Louis IX.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Favor experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the wealthy and educated classes. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Favor Delano, an Italian Renaissance poet and scholar born in 1490. His works, which celebrated the beauty of nature and the divine order, were widely acclaimed during his lifetime.
In the 17th century, the Puritan movement in England and America led to a renewed interest in biblical names, including Favor. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the New World was Favor Ingraham, a Puritan settler who arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638.
Another notable figure in history who bore the name Favor was Favor Mills, an English clergyman and author born in 1625. He wrote extensively on theological subjects and was known for his strong defense of Protestantism during the tumultuous religious conflicts of the time.
As the centuries passed, the name Favor remained relatively uncommon, but it continued to be bestowed upon individuals in various parts of the world. One famous bearer of the name was Favor Keenan, an Irish-American actress born in 1890, who achieved success on the Broadway stage in the early 20th century.
People
Favor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Favor 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
Favor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Favor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 612 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Favor 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 560,056 US residents.
Is Favor a common name?
We classify Favor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 617 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Favor most popular?
The single biggest year for Favor was 2022, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Favor is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Favor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 614 people with the name Favor, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,775 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 Favor 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 Favor?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Favor on both sides of the split. Of the 613 people counted with this name, 126 were male (20.6%) and 487 were female (79.4%). 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 Favor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Favor is Black at 89.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Favor most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Favor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (547 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 Favor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Favor a female name?
Yes, 78.9% of people registered as Favor 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 Favor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Favor 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 Favor 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 Favor?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.