Fanuel
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "Vision of God".
Name Census estimates that about 64 living Americans carry the first name Fanuel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fanuel today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fanuel births was 2016 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fanuel. 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 Fanuel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fanuel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
64
~ 1 in 5,355,537 Americans
Peak year
2016
11 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,813
Tracked since 2007
Census
Fanuel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 232 people with the first name Fanuel, which placed it at #34,960 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
#34,960
National first-name rank
People counted
232
232 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fanuel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fanuel is Black at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.4%) and White (4.7%). 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 Fanuel 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 Fanuel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.6% · 166
- Hispanic or Latino19.4% · 45
- White4.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 5
- Two or more races2.2% · 5
Popularity
Fanuel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fanuel from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 41 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fanuel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fanuel 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 Fanuel 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 Fanuel
The given name Fanuel has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "panu" meaning "face" and "el" referring to God, suggesting the name's meaning as "the face of God."
The earliest known reference to the name Fanuel can be found in the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish religious work composed around the 3rd century BCE. In the text, Fanuel is mentioned as one of the archangels responsible for overseeing the movements of the heavenly bodies.
In the 1st century CE, the name appears in the Apocryphal book of Tobit, where Fanuel is described as one of the seven archangels who stand before the throne of God. This association with angelic beings and celestial entities further solidified the name's sacred connotations.
Historically, the name Fanuel was primarily used within Jewish and Christian communities, particularly in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Fanuel ben Judah, a prominent Jewish scholar and author who lived in the 9th century CE in Babylonia.
Another notable figure was Fanuel of Terracina, an Italian rabbi and philosopher who lived in the 13th century. He was known for his contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism and his extensive writings on the Kabbalah.
In the 16th century, Fanuel Cassin was a French Huguenot pastor and theologian who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in France. He was known for his passionate sermons and his efforts to promote religious tolerance and understanding.
During the 18th century, Fanuel Saavedra was a Spanish military officer and engineer who gained recognition for his innovative fortification designs and his role in the defense of several cities during the Napoleonic Wars.
In the 19th century, Fanuel Herreros was a prominent Spanish painter and illustrator, celebrated for his detailed portraits and his contributions to the Romantic movement in Spanish art.
While the name Fanuel has its roots in ancient Hebrew and Jewish traditions, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, often associated with religious or spiritual contexts. The name's rich history and angelic connotations have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Fanuel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fanuel 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
Fanuel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fanuel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fanuel 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 5,355,537 US residents.
Is Fanuel a common name?
We classify Fanuel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 64 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fanuel most popular?
The single biggest year for Fanuel was 2016, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fanuel is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fanuel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 232 people with the name Fanuel, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,960 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 Fanuel 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 Fanuel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fanuel appears almost entirely male. Of the 222 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Fanuel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fanuel is Black at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.4%) and White (4.7%). 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 Fanuel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fanuel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.6% (166 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 Fanuel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fanuel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fanuel in the SSA data are male. 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 Fanuel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fanuel 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 Fanuel 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 Fanuel as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Fanuel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.