Find out how popular the last name Favre is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Favre.

Favre, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Favre surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Favre in America

Favre is the 21717th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Favre surname appeared 1,198 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Favre.

We can also compare 2010 data for Favre to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Favre

The surname Favre originated in France, likely during the Medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "favre," which means "blacksmith" or "smith." This suggests that the name was initially an occupational name given to someone who worked as a blacksmith or in a related metalworking profession.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Favre can be traced back to the 12th century in various regions of France, including Normandy, Burgundy, and Franche-Comté. It was often spelled as "Fèvre" or "Lefèvre" in its early forms.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in the Cartulaire de Louviers, a collection of charters and deeds from the Louviers region of Normandy. This document mentions individuals with the surname Favre, indicating the presence of the name in that area during that time period.

One notable historical figure with the surname Favre was Pierre Favre (1506-1546), a French Catholic priest and one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He was born in the village of Villaret, Savoy, and played a significant role in the early development of the Jesuit order.

Another prominent individual was Claude Favre de Vaugelas (1585-1650), a French grammarian and philologist who is considered one of the founders of modern French grammar. He was born in Bussy-le-Grand, Burgundy, and his work on standardizing the French language had a lasting impact.

In the 17th century, Jacques Favre (1609-1667), a Swiss mathematician and astronomer, made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. He was born in Geneva and is known for his work on the calculation of logarithms and the development of analytical geometry.

The name Favre was also associated with various place names throughout France, such as Favrieux, a commune in the Isère department, and Favresse, a village in the Meuse department.

Other notable individuals with the surname Favre include Jean-Baptiste Favre (1742-1808), a French geologist and mineralogist who made significant contributions to the study of volcanoes and the classification of minerals, and Alphonse Favre (1815-1890), a Swiss geologist and paleontologist known for his work on the geology of the Alps.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Favre

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Favre.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Favre was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Favre has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Favre was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Favre, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!