Faith
Meaning
faith, trust
Goes by Fay
Famously borne by Faith Ringgold, whose story quilts wove painting, text, and Black history into one form.
The story
Faith is one of the clearest virtue names: the English word itself, ultimately tied to the Latin idea of trust. Puritan families adopted it in the seventeenth century alongside Hope, Grace, Patience, and other names meant to state a value every time they were spoken. American records, however, show Faith's biggest chapter arriving much later. The name stays near the floor through most of the twentieth century, begins climbing in the 1980s, rises strongly in the 1990s, and reaches its high point in the 2000s before easing. That late peak gave an old Puritan choice the sound of a modern word name. Faith needs no translation on an English page and no elaborate explanation at home. It is both a belief and a plain promise, compact enough to fit in one syllable.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Faith peaked in the 2000s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
29 people · the #96,655 first name in Brazil · median age 27
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Faith
Most people given the name Faith in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Faith deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Faith truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Faith fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Faith travels
Korean American · faith, trust (a Protestant virtue name in the Korean American church register alongside Grace and Joy)
Filipino American · faith, trust (part of the Filipino virtue-name tradition)
Filipino · faith, trust (popular virtue name)
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Faith · Korean American baby names · Filipino baby names · Filipino American baby names
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