Fayetta
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the French word fée meaning "fairy".
Name Census estimates that about 394 living Americans carry the first name Fayetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fayetta today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fayetta births was 1953 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fayetta. 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
- • The typical person named Fayetta is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fayettas were born before 1962.
People living today
394
~ 1 in 869,935 Americans
Peak year
1953
39 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1977 SSA rank
#7,784
Tracked since 1901
Census
Fayetta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 530 people with the first name Fayetta, which placed it at #19,787 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
#19,787
National first-name rank
People counted
530
530 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fayetta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fayetta is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.2%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Fayetta 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 Fayetta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 325
- Black or African American33.2% · 176
- Two or more races3.8% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Fayetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fayetta from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 237 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fayetta 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 Fayetta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fayettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois recorded the most babies named Fayetta, while Oklahoma, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fayetta
The name Fayetta is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, with various theories proposed regarding its etymology and meaning. One possible theory suggests that it may be a variant or diminutive form of the name Fay, which itself is derived from the Old French word "fée" meaning "fairy."
Another theory proposes that Fayetta is a combination of the English name Fay and the Italian suffix "-etta," which is commonly used to form feminine diminutives. This suggests that the name may have originated as a blend of English and Italian influences.
Historically, the earliest recorded instances of the name Fayetta can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily in the United States and Canada. However, there are limited records or historical references to the name prior to this period.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Fayetta was Fayetta Pauline Clark (1889-1981), an American author and playwright from Missouri. Another notable figure was Fayetta Weems (1897-1968), an American violinist and musician from Texas.
In the realm of literature, the name Fayetta appears in the novel "The Tin Star" by John Edward Williams, published in 1964, where it is the name of a character. Additionally, Fayetta Sims is a character in the play "Precious Lord" by Gary Earl Ross, first performed in 1985.
While not extensively documented in historical records, the name Fayetta has been used throughout the 20th century by various individuals, such as Fayetta Lee Ables (1921-2012), an American educator from Arkansas, and Fayetta Rocha, a Brazilian-American artist and painter active in the late 20th century.
It is important to note that the name Fayetta remains relatively uncommon, and its usage has been sporadic throughout history, with limited information available on its origins and early references.
People
Fayetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fayetta 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
Fayetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fayetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 394 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fayetta 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 869,935 US residents.
Is Fayetta a common name?
We classify Fayetta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,061 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fayetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Fayetta was 1953, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fayetta is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fayetta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 530 people with the name Fayetta, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,787 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 Fayetta 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 Fayetta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fayetta appears almost entirely female. Of the 520 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Fayetta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fayetta is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.2%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Fayetta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fayetta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (325 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 Fayetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fayetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fayetta 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 Fayetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fayetta 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 Fayetta 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 many people are called Fayetta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.