Falina
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Arabic, with suggested meanings of "beautiful" or "success".
Name Census estimates that about 46 living Americans carry the first name Falina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Falina today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Falina births was 1983 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Falina. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Falina. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
46
~ 1 in 7,451,181 Americans
Peak year
1983
8 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1992 SSA rank
#13,979
Tracked since 1960
Census
Falina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 115 people with the first name Falina, which placed it at #51,185 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
#51,185
National first-name rank
People counted
115
115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Falina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falina is White at 51.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Falina 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 Falina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.3% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino23.5% · 27
- Black or African American9.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 8
- Two or more races5.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 4
Popularity
Falina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Falina from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 25 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
Falina 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 Falina 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 Falina
The name Falina has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "falana," which means "to blossom" or "to flourish." This name was likely given to girls born during the spring season, when nature was blossoming and coming to life.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, there are references to the concept of "falana," which symbolized growth, renewal, and the cycle of life. However, there are no specific mentions of the name Falina itself in these early religious scriptures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Falina can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Gupta Empire in northern India. One of the notable historical figures with this name was Falina Devi, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived during the reign of King Harsha in the 7th century CE.
Another notable Falina in history was Falina Bai, a courtesan and poet in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. Her poetry, which often celebrated love and beauty, has been preserved in various anthologies from that era.
In the 12th century, there was a Falina who was a prominent tantric practitioner and mystic in the Kashmir region. Her teachings and writings on tantric philosophy and spiritual practices were widely respected during her time.
During the 18th century, Falina Begum was a famous dancer and courtesan in the court of the Nawab of Awadh, known for her grace and talent in the classical Indian dance form of Kathak.
Falina Nahar was a notable figure in the 19th century, renowned for her philanthropic work and her efforts in establishing schools and healthcare facilities for underprivileged women and children in the city of Lucknow, India.
While the name Falina has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has transcended cultural boundaries and has been adopted by various communities across different parts of the world, albeit with variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Falina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Falina 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
Falina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Falina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Falina 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 7,451,181 US residents.
Is Falina a common name?
We classify Falina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 50 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Falina most popular?
The single biggest year for Falina was 1983, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Falina is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Falina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 115 people with the name Falina, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,185 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 Falina 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 Falina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Falina appears almost entirely female. Of the 112 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Falina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falina is White at 51.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Falina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Falina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.3% (59 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 Falina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Falina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Falina 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 Falina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Falina 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 Falina 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 common is the name Falina?
See how many people have the name Falina on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.