Faysal
An Arabic masculine name meaning "the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood".
Name Census estimates that about 203 living Americans carry the first name Faysal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Faysal today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Faysal births was 2009 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Faysal. 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 Faysal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
203
~ 1 in 1,688,445 Americans
Peak year
2009
16 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,264
Tracked since 1993
Census
Faysal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 533 people with the first name Faysal, which placed it at #19,699 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
#19,699
National first-name rank
People counted
533
533 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Faysal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faysal is Black at 47.1%. The next largest groups are White (29.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%). 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 Faysal 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 Faysal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.1% · 251
- White29.5% · 157
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.9% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 12
- Two or more races2.3% · 12
Popularity
Faysal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Faysal from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Faysal 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 Faysal 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 Faysal
The name Faysal has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, tracing back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic root word "fa-sa-la," which means to separate or distinguish. The name is believed to have been initially used to refer to someone who stands out or is distinguished from others.
In Arabic, the name Faysal is spelled as فيصل, and it has been a popular name among Arab families for centuries. The earliest recorded use of the name can be found in ancient Arabic texts and historical documents from the medieval period.
One of the most notable historical figures to bear the name Faysal was Faysal I, the former King of Syria and later the King of Iraq. He was born in 1885 and died in 1933. Faysal I played a pivotal role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I and was instrumental in the establishment of modern-day Syria and Iraq.
Another famous Faysal in history was Faysal II, the last King of Iraq, who reigned from 1939 until his untimely death in 1958 at the age of 23. He was overthrown and executed during the 14 July Revolution in Iraq.
In the field of literature, Faysal Khartash was a renowned Syrian poet who lived from 1923 to 1986. His works explored themes of love, nationalism, and the human condition, earning him widespread recognition in the Arab world.
Faysal al-Qassem, born in 1957, is a prominent Syrian journalist and TV host known for his outspoken views on political and social issues in the Middle East. He has hosted several popular talk shows and has been recognized for his contributions to journalism.
Faysal El-Khalil, born in 1965, is a Palestinian-American businessman and entrepreneur. He co-founded and served as the CEO of Compass, a real estate technology company, which achieved a multi-billion dollar valuation.
While these are just a few examples, the name Faysal has been borne by many notable individuals throughout history, reflecting its deep roots in Arabic culture and its significance as a name that denotes distinction and standing out from the crowd.
People
Faysal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Faysal 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
Faysal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Faysal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Faysal 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 1,688,445 US residents.
Is Faysal a common name?
We classify Faysal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 205 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Faysal most popular?
The single biggest year for Faysal was 2009, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Faysal is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Faysal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 533 people with the name Faysal, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,699 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 Faysal 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 Faysal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faysal leans strongly male. 519 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Faysal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faysal is Black at 47.1%. The next largest groups are White (29.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%). 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 Faysal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Faysal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.1% (251 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 Faysal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Faysal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Faysal 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 Faysal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Faysal 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 Faysal 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 Faysal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.