Fausto
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Meaning
the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Faustus, a Roman cognomen meaning "auspicious, lucky"
The story
Fausto is the Latin good-luck name: the Roman cognomen Faustus meant "auspicious, lucky," and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all kept it whole. The most famous bearer pedaled rather than philosophized: Fausto Coppi, the Italian cyclist who dominated the sport around 1950 and whom the source itself singles out. Brazil's census counted 10,934 men named Fausto, 2,196 of them born in the 1970s and 2,480 in the 1980s. The United States line is long and unhurried: 16 boys in the 1910s, three-digit decades through midcentury, then 446 in the 1980s, 529 in the 1990s, 539 in the 2000s, 352 in the 2010s, 181 so far this decade. A century of steady, quiet luck under the radar. Goethe's Faust spelled it differently and made a far riskier deal; the Latin original never needed the devil's help.
How popular is Fausto around the world?
In the United States, Fausto is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. In Argentina, 1,169 newborns were given the name Fausto in 2024.
Fausto is on the official records of the United States, Argentina, Montevideo, Mexico City, Chile, Brazil and Spain.
United States
on record
In the United States, Fausto is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Fausto peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Argentina
1 in 570
In Argentina, 1,169 newborns were given the name Fausto in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
1 in 2,7002011
In Montevideo, 9 boys named Fausto were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Mexico City City
1 in 5,900
In Mexico City, there were 20 registrations of Fausto in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 16,000
In Chile, 11 boys were registered as Fausto in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 19,000
At the 2022 census, 10,934 people in Brazil were named Fausto, ranked 1,604th, with a median age of 50.
Among people named Fausto living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 51 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 19,000
In Spain, 2,345 residents are named Fausto, the 728th most common name among men, with a mean age of 58.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
England and Wales
last on record 2010
Fausto is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 1987
Fausto is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Fausto deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Fausto 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 Fausto fits with your family’s names and surname.
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