Fard
An Arabic masculine name meaning "unique" or "incomparable".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Fard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fard today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fard births was 1975 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fard. 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
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1975
16 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1998 SSA rank
#8,832
Tracked since 1971
Census
Fard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 132 people with the first name Fard, which placed it at #48,390 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
#48,390
National first-name rank
People counted
132
132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fard is Black at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Fard 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 Fard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.0% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 9
- Two or more races6.8% · 9
- White6.1% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Fard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fard from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 63 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fard 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 Fard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fards live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fard
The name Fard has its origins in the Persian language, where it means "individual" or "unique." This name dates back to the ancient Persian civilization, which flourished in the region now known as Iran between the 6th century BCE and the 7th century CE.
Fard was a popular name among the Persian nobility and aristocracy during this period. It was often given to boys born into prominent families, reflecting the desire for their child to be seen as distinct and exceptional. The name can be found in various historical texts and records from this era, including the epic poem Shahnameh, written by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Fard was Fard-e Khorasani, a 9th-century Persian astronomer and mathematician. He made significant contributions to the study of spherical trigonometry and the development of astronomical tables. Another notable figure was Fard-e Isfahani, a 12th-century Persian poet and scholar who wrote extensively on topics ranging from philosophy to literature.
During the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th century, the name Fard gained popularity among Muslim communities across the Middle East and Central Asia. It was embraced by both Arab and Persian families, and several influential figures bore this name.
One of the most famous individuals named Fard was Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam movement in the United States. Born in 1877 (some sources suggest 1891) on the island of Savior's Day in the British West Indies, he later migrated to Detroit and established the Nation of Islam in the 1930s. Despite the controversies surrounding his teachings, Fard Muhammad had a significant impact on the African American community and the civil rights movement.
Another prominent figure was Fard Ahmad, a 16th-century Persian calligrapher and artist who served as the court calligrapher during the Safavid dynasty. His exquisite calligraphic works adorned numerous manuscripts and architectural structures, earning him widespread acclaim for his mastery of the art form.
In more recent history, Fard Qawasmeh was a Jordanian military officer and politician who served as the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister of Jordan in the late 20th century. He played a crucial role in shaping Jordan's national security policies during his tenure.
People
Fard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fard 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
Fard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fard 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Fard a common name?
We classify Fard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fard most popular?
The single biggest year for Fard was 1975, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fard 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 Fard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 132 people with the name Fard, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,390 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 Fard 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 Fard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fard appears almost entirely male. Of the 121 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 Fard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fard is Black at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Fard most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (103 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 Fard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fard 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 Fard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fard 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 Fard 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 Fard?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Fard at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.