Fairy
A fanciful English feminine name derived from fairies of folklore.
Name Census estimates that about 361 living Americans carry the first name Fairy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fairy today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fairy births was 1917 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fairy. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Fairy is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fairys were born before 1966.
People living today
361
~ 1 in 949,458 Americans
Peak year
1917
80 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,011
Tracked since 1882
Census
Fairy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 595 people with the first name Fairy, which placed it at #18,189 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
#18,189
National first-name rank
People counted
595
595 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fairy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fairy is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.1%). 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 Fairy 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 Fairy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.0% · 339
- Black or African American25.9% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.1% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 15
- Two or more races2.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 9
Popularity
Fairy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fairy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 597 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fairy 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 Fairy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fairys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Fairy, while Louisiana, Virginia, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fairy
The name Fairy is a relatively recent one, first appearing in the late 19th century. It is derived from the English word "fairy," which refers to the mythical creatures of folklore and legend. The word "fairy" itself can be traced back to the Old French "faerie" and the Latin "fata," meaning "fate" or "destiny."
While the name Fairy does not have a long historical lineage, it is closely tied to the rich tradition of fairy tales and fantasy literature that emerged during the Victorian era. Writers such as J.M. Barrie, who penned the beloved story of Peter Pan, helped to popularize the whimsical and enchanting imagery associated with fairies.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fairy was in 1898, when it was given to a baby girl born in England. This may have been inspired by the burgeoning interest in fairy tales and the romanticization of the fairy realm during that time period.
Throughout the 20th century, the name Fairy remained relatively uncommon but gained a certain mystical charm. Some notable individuals who bore this name include Fairy Kemp (1908-1986), a British stage and film actress, and Fairy Royle (1898-1986), a British aviator and one of the first women to obtain a commercial pilot's license.
In the realm of literature, Fairy Blackwood (1872-1951) was a British novelist and playwright who wrote under the pen name "Fairy." Her works often explored themes of love, romance, and the supernatural, reflecting the enduring fascination with fairy tales and the fanciful realm of make-believe.
While not widely popular, the name Fairy has maintained a niche following among those drawn to its whimsical and ethereal connotations. It serves as a reminder of the rich imaginative tradition that has captivated generations of storytellers and readers alike.
People
Fairy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fairy 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
Fairy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fairy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 361 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fairy 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 949,458 US residents.
Is Fairy a common name?
We classify Fairy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,392 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fairy most popular?
The single biggest year for Fairy was 1917, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fairy is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fairy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 595 people with the name Fairy, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,189 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 Fairy 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 Fairy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fairy leans strongly female. 584 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Fairy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fairy is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.1%). 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 Fairy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fairy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (339 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 Fairy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fairy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fairy 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 Fairy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fairy 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 Fairy 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 named Fairy?
Find out how many Americans are named Fairy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.