Faiga
A feminine Arabic name meaning "the reward" or "virtuous woman".
Name Census estimates that about 1,380 living Americans carry the first name Faiga. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Faiga today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Faiga births was 2024 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Faiga. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Faiga with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Faiga is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,373 Americans
Peak year
2024
72 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,484
Tracked since 1979
Census
Faiga in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 899 people with the first name Faiga, which placed it at #13,432 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,432
National first-name rank
People counted
899
899 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Faiga
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faiga is White at 96.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Black (0.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Faiga described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Faiga at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.9% · 871
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 17
- Black or African American0.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 5
Popularity
Faiga: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Faiga from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 525 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Faiga remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Faiga by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Faiga during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Faigas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Faiga
The given name Faiga originates from the Samoan language spoken in the Samoan Islands, a region located in the Pacific Ocean. It has its roots in the Proto-Polynesian word "fai'ga," which means "to make" or "to do." The name Faiga is believed to have been used in Samoa for many centuries, dating back to the early settlement of the islands by Polynesian voyagers.
Faiga was a popular name among the ancient Samoans, and it is likely that it appeared in oral traditions, chants, and genealogies passed down through generations. However, due to the lack of written records from that period, there are no historical texts or scriptures that can be directly attributed to the earliest use of this name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Faiga can be found in the accounts of European explorers who visited the Samoan Islands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These explorers often recorded the names of local individuals they encountered, providing valuable documentation of names in use at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Faiga. One such person was Faiga Tautau, a Samoan high chief and orator who lived in the late 18th century. He was renowned for his oratory skills and played a significant role in preserving Samoan traditions and customs.
Another prominent figure was Faiga Luafau, a Samoan educator, and writer who lived from 1890 to 1964. She was one of the first Samoan women to receive a formal education and dedicated her life to promoting literacy and education among her people.
In the realm of sports, Faiga Mataafa, born in 1935, was a Samoan boxer who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He was the first Samoan athlete to participate in the Olympic Games.
Faiga Fuaimavela, born in 1952, was a Samoan artist and sculptor known for her works that celebrated Samoan culture and traditions. Her sculptures and carvings are displayed in galleries and museums around the world.
Lastly, Faiga Moeakiola, born in 1970, is a contemporary Samoan writer and poet. Her works often explore themes of identity, culture, and the experiences of Pacific Islanders in the modern world.
While the name Faiga has its origins in the Samoan language and culture, it has also gained recognition and use in other parts of the world, particularly among the Samoan diaspora communities. However, the detailed history and cultural significance of this name are deeply rooted in the Samoan Islands and the rich traditions of the Polynesian people.
People
Faiga + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Faiga as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Faiga: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Faiga?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Faiga going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 248,373 US residents.
Is Faiga a common name?
We classify Faiga as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Faiga most popular?
The single biggest year for Faiga was 2024, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Faiga is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Faiga in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 899 people with the name Faiga, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,432 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Faiga in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Faiga?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faiga appears almost entirely female. Of the 895 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Faiga?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faiga is White at 96.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%) and Black (0.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Faiga most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Faiga in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.9% (871 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Faiga in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Faiga a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Faiga in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Faiga still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Faiga in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Faiga can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Faiga?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.