Fon
A shortened form of the French masculine name Alphonse, meaning "noble and ready".
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Fon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fon today is around 119 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fon births was 1916 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fon. 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 Fon is about 119 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fons were born before 1917.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1916
8 babies that year
Average age
119
years old
1931 SSA rank
#3,975
Tracked since 1913
Census
Fon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 220 people with the first name Fon, which placed it at #36,203 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
#36,203
National first-name rank
People counted
220
220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
41.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Black (21.8%). 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 Fon 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 Fon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.8% · 92
- White33.6% · 74
- Black or African American21.8% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Fon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fon from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 13 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Fon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fon 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 Fon 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 Fon
The name Fon is believed to have originated from the Fon people, an ethnic group native to the present-day country of Benin in West Africa. The Fon were historically known as the founders of the powerful Kingdom of Dahomey, which flourished from the 17th to the 19th century.
The word "Fon" itself is thought to be derived from the Fon language, which is a member of the Gbe language family spoken by the Fon people. The name may have been used to identify individuals from this ethnic group or those who spoke the Fon language.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Fon can be found in the accounts of European explorers and traders who visited the region during the 17th and 18th centuries. These accounts often mention the Fon people and their kingdom, providing insights into their culture and way of life.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Fon. One of the most famous was Fon Willliam Aviti, a Ghanaian politician and diplomat who served as the first Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) from 1963 to 1964.
Another prominent figure was Fon Maximilien Quenum, a Beninese politician and writer who played a significant role in the country's independence movement in the mid-20th century. He served as the first President of Dahomey (now Benin) from 1964 to 1965.
In the realm of sports, Fon John Gondo was a Tanzanian footballer who played as a striker for various clubs in Tanzania and Kenya during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a prolific goal-scorer and is considered one of the greatest players in Tanzanian football history.
The name Fon has also been associated with literature and the arts. Fon Ahmadou Kourouma was an influential Ivorian novelist and playwright whose works, such as "Les Soleils des Indépendances" (The Suns of Independence), explored themes of colonialism, identity, and post-colonial Africa.
Another notable figure was Fon Miriam Makeba, a South African singer and civil rights activist who popularized African music worldwide and was a prominent voice against apartheid. She is often referred to as the "Mama Africa" and was a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
While these are just a few examples, the name Fon has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, reflecting the cultural richness and diversity of the regions where it originated.
People
Fon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fon 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
Fon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fon 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Fon a common name?
We classify Fon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fon most popular?
The single biggest year for Fon was 1916, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fon is about 119 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 220 people with the name Fon, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,203 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 Fon 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 Fon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Fon on both sides of the split. Of the 221 people counted with this name, 144 were male (65.2%) and 77 were female (34.8%). 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 Fon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Black (21.8%). 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 Fon most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Fon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.8% (92 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 Fon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fon 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 Fon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fon 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 Fon 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 Fon?
You can see how many people share the name Fon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.