Faye
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Meaning
from the English word fay, 'fairy' (Middle English faie, ultimately from Latin fata, the Fates); sometimes a short form of Faith
The story
Faye is the fairy name, from the English word fay, "fairy," by way of the Middle English faie, "magical, enchanted," tracing ultimately to the Latin fata, the Fates; sometimes it stands as a short form of Faith. The register shows a full American life cycle: 1,130 girls in the 1890s, 12,555 in the 1930s and 13,711 in the 1940s, then the long fade to 618 in the 1990s. Then the revival: 1,106 in the 2000s, 2,969 in the 2010s, 3,201 so far this decade. Faye Dunaway kept it on marquees through the quiet years. One syllable, soft consonant, vintage without dust: exactly the profile the middle-name renaissance and the great-grandmother revival both shop for. The Fates, it turns out, spin in circles.
How popular is Faye around the world?
In the United States, 3,201 babies were named Faye between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 61 girls named Faye were born in 2025, the 80th most common name among girls that year.
Faye is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, Canada, South Australia, Austria and Spain.
United States
1 in 6,800
In the United States, 3,201 babies were named Faye between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Faye peaked in the 1900s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 890
In Ireland, 61 girls named Faye were born in 2025, the 80th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 2,400
In Scotland, 19 girls named Faye were registered in 2024, the 196th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 4,500
In England and Wales, 130 girls named Faye were born in 2025, the 333rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Canada
1 in 6,000
In Canada, 61 girls named Faye were born in 2024, the 479th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Faye in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Austria
1 in 38,000
In Austria, 2 girls named Faye were born in 2025, ranked 1,305th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 550,000
In Spain, 45 residents are named Faye, ranked 15,789th among men, with a mean age of 36.6 years.
In Spain, 36 residents are named Faye, ranked 18,689th among women, with a mean age of 43.3 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
New Zealand
last on record 2022
Faye is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. 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 Faye deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Faye 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 Faye fits with your family’s names and surname.
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