Falen
Variant spelling of the name Fallon, of Irish origin meaning "superior leader".
Name Census estimates that about 184 living Americans carry the first name Falen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Falen today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Falen births was 1983 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Falen. 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 Falen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
184
~ 1 in 1,862,795 Americans
Peak year
1983
21 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,455
Tracked since 1981
Census
Falen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Falen, which placed it at #38,294 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
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Falen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falen is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Falen 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 Falen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.2% · 105
- Black or African American23.4% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 21
- Two or more races9.0% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
Popularity
Falen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Falen from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 110 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Falen 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 Falen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Falen
The name Falen is believed to have its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic root "fal-," which means "rock" or "cliff." This root is also found in other Germanic names such as Falco and Falken.
In the early medieval period, the name Falen was primarily used in regions inhabited by Germanic tribes, particularly in present-day Germany, Austria, and parts of Scandinavia. It was often associated with strength, resilience, and a connection to nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Falen can be found in the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century Gothic manuscript containing portions of the Bible translated into the Gothic language. In this text, the name Falen appears as a variant spelling of the name Falko, which was given to a character described as a brave and loyal warrior.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Falen. One of the earliest was Falen the Younger (c. 720-785), a Frankish scholar and theologian who served as an advisor to Charlemagne. He was known for his influential writings on theology and philosophy.
Another prominent figure with this name was Falen von Mecklenburg (1311-1379), a German nobleman and military commander who played a crucial role in the Hundred Years' War. He was renowned for his strategic brilliance and leadership on the battlefield.
In the 16th century, Falen Gundelfinger (1525-1589) was a renowned German artist and engraver, celebrated for his intricate woodcuts and engravings depicting religious and mythological scenes.
During the Renaissance period, Falen Valois (1543-1602) was a French nobleman and patron of the arts. He commissioned numerous works of art and architecture, contributing significantly to the cultural renaissance of his time.
More recently, Falen Hickok (1867-1934) was an American writer and journalist who gained fame for his vivid accounts of life in the American West during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Falen has waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, its rich historical roots and associations with strength, resilience, and a connection to nature have endured, making it a unique and intriguing choice for a given name.
People
Falen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Falen 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
Falen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Falen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 184 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Falen 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 1,862,795 US residents.
Is Falen a common name?
We classify Falen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Falen most popular?
The single biggest year for Falen was 1983, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Falen is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Falen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Falen, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 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 Falen 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 Falen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Falen leans strongly female. 186 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 17 male bearers (8.4%). 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 Falen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falen is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Falen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Falen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (105 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 Falen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Falen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Falen 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 Falen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Falen 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 Falen 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 have the name Falen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.