Farley
From an Old English surname meaning "fern-covered meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 715 living Americans carry the first name Farley. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Farley today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Farley births was 1952 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Farley. 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 Farley with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
715
~ 1 in 479,377 Americans
Peak year
1952
39 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,906
Tracked since 1884
Census
Farley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 976 people with the first name Farley, which placed it at #12,669 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
#12,669
National first-name rank
People counted
976
976 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Farley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farley is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Farley 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 Farley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.6% · 591
- Black or African American19.2% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 65
- Two or more races4.0% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Farley
Farley leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 17 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Farley as a male name
- Ranked #7,906 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1952 (39 births)
Farley as a female name
- Ranked #12,552 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Farley leans strongly male. 851 people counted with this name were male (87.1%), compared with 126 female bearers (12.9%).
Popularity
Farley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Farley from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 309 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Farley 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 Farley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Farleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Kentucky, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Farley, while Texas, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Farley
The name Farley originated in England during the Middle Ages, derived from the Old English words "feor" meaning "far" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing". It was initially a surname given to those who lived or worked in a far-off meadow or clearing.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in the Domesday Book, a record of landowners in England compiled by order of William the Conqueror. The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Radulfus de Farlegh, listed as a landowner in Somersetshire.
Over time, Farley transitioned from a surname to a given name, particularly popular among the English gentry and aristocracy. One of the earliest recorded instances of Farley as a first name dates back to the 16th century, with Sir Farley Anderson (1528-1599), an English nobleman and courtier to Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Farley Mowat (1621-1678) was a prominent English philosopher and author, known for his work on natural philosophy and his treatise "The Farley Discourses". During the same period, Farley Greenwood (1644-1711) was a renowned English architect who designed several notable buildings, including the St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
In the 19th century, Farley Fanshawe (1824-1892) was a British explorer and adventurer who led several expeditions to Africa and the Middle East. His chronicles of his travels were widely published and helped promote interest in exploration and adventure.
Another notable bearer of the name was Farley Reville (1871-1937), a British actor and playwright who was a prominent figure in the Victorian and Edwardian theatre scene. His most famous works included the plays "The Farley Affair" and "Farley's Folly".
While the name Farley has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by a diverse range of individuals across various fields, from philosophy and architecture to exploration and theatre.
People
Farley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Farley 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
Farley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Farley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 715 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Farley 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 479,377 US residents.
Is Farley a common name?
We classify Farley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,097 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Farley most popular?
The single biggest year for Farley was 1952, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Farley is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Farley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 976 people with the name Farley, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,669 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 Farley 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 Farley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Farley leans strongly male. 851 people counted with this name were male (87.1%), compared with 126 female bearers (12.9%). 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 Farley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Farley is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Farley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Farley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (591 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 Farley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Farley a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Farley 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 Farley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Farley 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 Farley 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 share the name Farley?
Find out how many people have the name Farley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.