Fawkes
A masculine name of French origin honoring the 17th-century English rebel Guy Fawkes.
Name Census estimates that about 80 living Americans carry the first name Fawkes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fawkes today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fawkes births was 2018 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fawkes. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fawkes. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
80
~ 1 in 4,284,429 Americans
Peak year
2018
15 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,262
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Fawkes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fawkes 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 42 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
Fawkes 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 Fawkes 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 Fawkes
The name Fawkes is believed to have originated from the Middle English word "faukes," which means "falcon" or "hawk." It was likely a nickname or surname given to someone who was particularly skilled in falconry or had a physical resemblance to a falcon.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fawkes dates back to the 13th century in England. It was primarily used as a surname during this time period. One of the most notable historical figures with the name Fawkes was Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), a member of the Gunpowder Plot who attempted to assassinate King James I of England in 1605.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Fawkes gained popularity as a first name, particularly among English Puritans. It was sometimes given as a nod to the biblical character Phineas, whose name means "mouth of brass" or "serpent's mouth" in Hebrew.
Another notable individual with the name Fawkes was Walter Fawkes (1585-1670), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament during the English Civil War. He was a staunch Royalist and supported King Charles I.
In the 18th century, the name Fawkes was associated with the American Revolutionary War hero Fawkes Viney (1750-1818), a member of the Virginia militia who fought against the British during the war.
Jumping forward to the 20th century, Fawkes was the first name of Fawkes Ruck-Keene (1910-2004), a British army officer and author who served during World War II and later wrote several books on military history.
While the name Fawkes is not as common today as it once was, it has maintained a historical significance and connection to notable figures throughout various eras of English and American history.
People
Fawkes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fawkes 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
Fawkes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fawkes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fawkes 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 4,284,429 US residents.
Is Fawkes a common name?
We classify Fawkes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fawkes most popular?
The single biggest year for Fawkes was 2018, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fawkes is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Fawkes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fawkes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fawkes 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 Fawkes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fawkes 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 Fawkes 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Fawkes as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Fawkes, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.