Girls' name · peaked in 1911
Fay name popularity since 1925
21,720 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Fay (91.6% girls, 8.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1941 or earlier, so the typical Fay is about 85 years old in 2026. Fay peaked in 1911 as the #208 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 21,720
- Named Fay, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1911
- #208 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,795 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 91.6% girls
- 19,889 girls · 1,831 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 2.42× its national share
Peak year is the year Fay made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Fay births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Fay peaked earlier, in 1911.
- Steepest fall: Between 1962 and 1967, Fay's share of baby girls fell by 42%, from 1 in 8,660 to 1 in 14,900.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Fay's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Fay.
Decade by decade
Babies named Fay in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 3,276 | 495 | – |
| 1930s | 5,763 | 672 | #263 |
| 1940s | 4,197 | 382 | #384 |
| 1950s | 3,130 | 171 | #561 |
| 1960s | 1,740 | 87 | #794 |
| 1970s | 524 | 24 | #1,846 |
| 1980s | 316 | 0 | #2,880 |
| 1990s | 170 | 0 | #6,058 |
| 2000s | 229 | 0 | #7,249 |
| 2010s | 311 | 0 | #5,348 |
| 2020–25 | 233 | 0 | #3,795 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
49.5% of babies named Fay from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Fay is most popular
The index compares Fay's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Fay.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 2.42× | 424 |
| Louisiana | 2.31× | 708 |
| Pennsylvania | 2.23× | 1,930 |
| Mississippi | 2.19× | 452 |
| Alabama | 2.00× | 602 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Fay's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Fay.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Fay (1911).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data