Finbar
Fair-headed, fair-haired young warrior. (of Irish origin)
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Finbar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Finbar today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Finbar births was 2009 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Finbar. 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 Finbar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
2009
16 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#9,255
Tracked since 1998
Census
Finbar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 243 people with the first name Finbar, which placed it at #33,857 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
#33,857
National first-name rank
People counted
243
243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Finbar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Finbar is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Finbar 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 Finbar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 201
- Black or African American10.7% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 5
- Two or more races1.6% · 4
Popularity
Finbar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Finbar from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 80 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Finbar 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 Finbar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Finbars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Finbar
The name Finbar has its origins in the Irish language and culture, with its earliest recorded usage dating back to the 6th century AD. It is derived from the Gaelic words "fionn" meaning fair or white, and "barr" meaning head or top, essentially translating to "fair-headed" or "white-haired".
This name was particularly popular in Ireland during the medieval period, with several notable figures bearing the moniker. One of the most renowned was Saint Finbar, a 6th-century Irish bishop and founder of a monastic school in Cork, Ireland. His life and teachings were recorded in the ancient Irish annals, and he is revered as the patron saint of the Diocese of Cork and Ross.
Another historical figure with this name was Finbar Fuathnacháin, an Irish king who ruled the Kingdom of Leinster in the 10th century. His reign was marked by conflicts with the neighboring kingdoms, and his exploits were chronicled in the medieval Irish annals.
During the 12th century, Finbar mac Donnchadha was a prominent Irish cleric and scribe who served as the Bishop of Derry. He was known for his contributions to the preservation of Irish literature and manuscripts.
In more recent times, Finbar Furey, born in 1946, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has played a significant role in the revival of traditional Irish folk music. He has released numerous albums and continues to perform and tour internationally.
Finbar Lynch, born in 1957, is an Irish actor best known for his roles in films such as "Waking Ned Devine" and "Calvary". He has had a prolific career in both film and television, and is highly regarded for his versatility and talent.
While the name Finbar has its roots in Irish culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries with strong Irish diasporas. The name continues to be a source of cultural pride and connection to Ireland's rich heritage.
People
Finbar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Finbar 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
Finbar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Finbar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Finbar 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 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Finbar a common name?
We classify Finbar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Finbar most popular?
The single biggest year for Finbar was 2009, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Finbar is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Finbar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 243 people with the name Finbar, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,857 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 Finbar 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 Finbar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Finbar appears almost entirely male. Of the 238 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Finbar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Finbar is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Finbar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Finbar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (201 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 Finbar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Finbar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Finbar 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 Finbar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Finbar 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 Finbar 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 Americans are named Finbar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.