Falyn
Of uncertain origin, possibly an elaboration of Gaelic name Fallon or Failenn.
Name Census estimates that about 1,086 living Americans carry the first name Falyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Falyn today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Falyn births was 2007 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Falyn. 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.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 315,612 Americans
Peak year
2007
51 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,075
Tracked since 1981
Census
Falyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 901 people with the first name Falyn, which placed it at #13,414 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
#13,414
National first-name rank
People counted
901
901 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Falyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falyn is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Falyn 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 Falyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 692
- Black or African American10.5% · 95
- Two or more races6.4% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Falyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Falyn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 353 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Falyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Falyn 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 Falyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Falyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Falyn, while Pennsylvania, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Falyn
The name Falyn is a relatively modern English name, likely derived from the Old English name Fælin or Fælind, meaning "little wolf" or "wolf cub." This name has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon culture of England, dating back to the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
Historically, names related to animals and nature were common among the Anglo-Saxons, reflecting their close connection with the natural world. The wolf, being a revered and respected creature in their culture, was a popular source for personal names.
While the name Falyn itself does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that some of its earlier forms, such as Fælin or Fælind, may have been used during the Anglo-Saxon period.
One of the earliest recorded examples of a similar name is Fælind, which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with variations of the name Falyn. Here are five examples:
1. Faelind of Canterbury (c. 1050 - c. 1120), an English monk and scholar known for his writings on ecclesiastical law.
2. Faelyn Gwynedd (c. 1145 - 1212), a Welsh prince and military leader who fought against the Norman invaders.
3. Falin de Bracy (c. 1170 - 1235), a Norman knight and landowner in England during the reign of King John.
4. Faline Beauchamp (c. 1325 - 1395), a French noblewoman and patron of the arts during the late Middle Ages.
5. Falyn Smythe (c. 1520 - 1585), an English explorer and navigator who accompanied Sir Francis Drake on several voyages to the Americas.
It is worth noting that while the name Falyn may have ancient roots, its modern spelling and usage as a given name seem to be a relatively recent development, likely stemming from a desire to revive and reimagine old Anglo-Saxon names in a modern context.
People
Falyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Falyn 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
Falyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Falyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,086 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Falyn 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 315,612 US residents.
Is Falyn a common name?
We classify Falyn as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,109 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Falyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Falyn was 2007, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Falyn is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Falyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 901 people with the name Falyn, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,414 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 Falyn 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 Falyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Falyn leans strongly female. 879 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 16 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Falyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Falyn is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Falyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Falyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (692 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 Falyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Falyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Falyn 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 Falyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Falyn 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 Falyn 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 Americans are named Falyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.