Firmin
Derived from the Late Latin name Firminus meaning "firm, steadfast".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Firmin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Firmin today is around 89 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Firmin births was 1928 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Firmin. 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 Firmin is about 89 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Firmins were born before 1947.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Firmin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1928
13 babies that year
Average age
89
years old
1942 SSA rank
#3,751
Tracked since 1913
Census
Firmin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 103 people with the first name Firmin, which placed it at #53,018 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
#53,018
National first-name rank
People counted
103
103 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Firmin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Firmin is Black at 45.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Hispanic (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 Firmin 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 Firmin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.6% · 47
- White37.9% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 6
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Popularity
Firmin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Firmin from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 49 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Firmin 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 Firmin 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 Firmin
The name Firmin has its origins in the Latin language and is derived from the word "firminus," which means "steady" or "firm." It is a variant of the name Firminus, which was quite common among the ancient Romans.
The earliest recorded use of the name Firmin dates back to the 3rd century AD, when Saint Firmin was a bishop and martyr in the city of Amiens, France. He is considered the first bishop of Amiens and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the 6th century, another notable figure named Firmin was a Benedictine monk and abbot of the Monastery of St. Saviour in Antibes, France. He is credited with helping to spread Christianity in the region and is also recognized as a saint.
During the Middle Ages, the name Firmin gained popularity in various parts of Europe, particularly in France and England. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Firmin of Amiens, a 12th-century French theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Paris.
In the 13th century, Firmin le Bel was a French architect and master mason who worked on several important buildings, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. He is considered one of the pioneers of Gothic architecture in France.
Another notable figure named Firmin was Firmin Didot, a French printer, typographer, and publisher who lived from 1764 to 1836. He was part of the famous Didot family of printers and played a significant role in the development of modern typography.
During the 19th century, Firmin Lambot was a Belgian painter known for his landscapes and depictions of rural life. He lived from 1886 to 1964 and is considered one of the leading figures of the Realist movement in Belgium.
In the 20th century, Firmin Gemier was a French actor, director, and theater manager who was instrumental in reviving the Comédie-Française, one of the most prestigious theaters in Paris. He lived from 1869 to 1933 and is remembered for his contributions to the French theater.
People
Firmin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Firmin 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
Firmin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Firmin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Firmin 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Firmin a common name?
We classify Firmin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Firmin most popular?
The single biggest year for Firmin was 1928, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Firmin is about 89 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Firmin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 103 people with the name Firmin, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,018 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 Firmin 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 Firmin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Firmin appears almost entirely male. Of the 108 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Firmin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Firmin is Black at 45.6%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Hispanic (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 Firmin most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Firmin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.6% (47 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 Firmin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Firmin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Firmin 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 Firmin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Firmin 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 Firmin 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 Firmin?
See how many Americans are named Firmin on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.