Fianna
A feminine name of Irish origin, meaning "fair" or "white".
Name Census estimates that about 260 living Americans carry the first name Fianna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fianna today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fianna births was 2015 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fianna. 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 Fianna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
260
~ 1 in 1,318,286 Americans
Peak year
2015
24 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,754
Tracked since 2000
Census
Fianna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 299 people with the first name Fianna, which placed it at #29,541 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
#29,541
National first-name rank
People counted
299
299 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fianna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fianna is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Fianna 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 Fianna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.9% · 191
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 31
- Two or more races9.7% · 29
- Black or African American8.7% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Fianna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fianna 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 140 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fianna 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 Fianna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fiannas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fianna
The name Fianna is derived from the Irish Gaelic language and has its origins in ancient Irish mythology. It is believed to have originated from the Fianna, a legendary band of warriors and hunters led by the mythical hero Finn McCool.
The term Fianna is thought to come from the Old Irish word "fían," which means "a group of roving warriors" or "a band of hunters." The Fianna were known for their bravery, loyalty, and skill in battle, and they played a significant role in many Irish folk tales and legends.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Fianna can be found in the Fenian Cycle, a collection of stories and poems that recount the adventures of Finn McCool and his Fianna warriors. These tales were passed down through oral tradition for centuries before being written down in the 12th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Fianna. One of the earliest recorded instances is Fianna mac Báetáin, an Irish abbot who lived in the 7th century and founded the monastery of Ros Cumaile in County Laois.
Another significant figure was Fianna Fáil, the Irish republican political party founded in 1926. The party's name was chosen to evoke the spirit of the ancient Fianna warriors, representing the ideals of Irish nationalism and self-determination.
In more recent times, Fianna was the name of an Irish singer-songwriter, born Fianna Brazier in 1970, who gained popularity in the 1990s for her blend of traditional Irish music and contemporary folk.
Other notable individuals with the name Fianna include Fianna Ní Chinnéide (born 1957), an Irish politician and member of the Seanad Éireann; and Fianna McCall (born 1980), an American actress known for her roles in television series such as The Bold and the Beautiful.
While the name Fianna may not be as commonly used today as it once was, it remains an important part of Irish cultural heritage, evoking the spirit of courage, loyalty, and a deep connection to the country's rich mythological past.
People
Fianna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fianna 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
Fianna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fianna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 260 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fianna 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 1,318,286 US residents.
Is Fianna a common name?
We classify Fianna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 262 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fianna most popular?
The single biggest year for Fianna was 2015, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fianna is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fianna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 299 people with the name Fianna, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,541 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 Fianna 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 Fianna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fianna appears almost entirely female. Of the 292 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 Fianna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fianna is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Fianna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fianna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.9% (191 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 Fianna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fianna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fianna 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 Fianna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fianna 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 Fianna 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 have Fianna as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Fianna, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.