Fareedah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "unique" or "precious".
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the first name Fareedah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fareedah today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fareedah births was 2016 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fareedah. 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 Fareedah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
128
~ 1 in 2,677,768 Americans
Peak year
2016
13 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2020 SSA rank
#9,784
Tracked since 1977
Census
Fareedah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 182 people with the first name Fareedah, which placed it at #40,748 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
#40,748
National first-name rank
People counted
182
182 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fareedah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fareedah is Black at 90.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Fareedah 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 Fareedah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.1% · 164
- White3.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 3
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Fareedah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fareedah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 82 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fareedah 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 Fareedah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fareedahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fareedah
The name Fareedah is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "farada," which means "unique" or "unparalleled." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries in various Islamic cultures and regions.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Fareedah can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. It is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive term to refer to women who possessed exceptional qualities or stood out from the crowd.
In Islamic history, the name Fareedah has been associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Fareedah bint Al-Mugheerah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century. She was renowned for her piety, knowledge, and dedication to the Islamic faith.
Another prominent figure was Fareedah Al-Bahraaniyah, a 12th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from Bahrain. She was highly regarded for her spiritual insights and contributions to the study of Islamic mysticism.
In the 14th century, Fareedah Al-Makkiyah was a renowned scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and theology. She hailed from Mecca and was celebrated for her vast knowledge and expertise in various fields of Islamic studies.
During the 16th century, Fareedah Bint Abi Al-Khayr was a prominent poet and literary figure from Ottoman Syria. Her works were widely praised for their eloquence and depth, and she was considered a master of Arabic literature.
In more recent times, Fareedah Zaman, born in 1939, was a distinguished Pakistani academic and author. She made significant contributions to the fields of literature, education, and women's rights, and her works have been widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
While the name Fareedah has its roots in Arabic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and is now used by individuals of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds around the world. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its beautiful meaning and the rich historical legacy associated with it.
People
Fareedah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fareedah 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
Fareedah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fareedah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 128 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fareedah 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 2,677,768 US residents.
Is Fareedah a common name?
We classify Fareedah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fareedah most popular?
The single biggest year for Fareedah was 2016, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fareedah is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fareedah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 182 people with the name Fareedah, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,748 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 Fareedah 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 Fareedah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fareedah appears almost entirely female. Of the 179 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 Fareedah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fareedah is Black at 90.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Fareedah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fareedah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.1% (164 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 Fareedah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fareedah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fareedah 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 Fareedah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fareedah 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 Fareedah 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 Fareedah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.