Finnley
An anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Fionnlagh meaning "fair warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 7,612 living Americans carry the first name Finnley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Finnley today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Finnley births was 2022 (647 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Finnley. 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 Finnley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Finnley is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.6K
~ 1 in 45,028 Americans
Peak year
2022
647 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#715
Tracked since 1999
Census
Finnley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,441 people with the first name Finnley, which placed it at #4,281 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
#4,281
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Finnley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Finnley is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Finnley 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 Finnley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 3,936
- Two or more races5.3% · 236
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 218
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 28
- Black or African American0.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Finnley
Finnley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 7,667 total registrations, 5,316 (69.3%) were male and 2,351 (30.7%) were female.
Finnley as a male name
- Ranked #715 in 2024
- 369 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (470 births)
Finnley as a female name
- Ranked #1,979 in 2024
- 99 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (207 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Finnley on both sides of the split. Of the 4,443 people counted with this name, 2,922 were male (65.8%) and 1,521 were female (34.2%).
Popularity
Finnley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Finnley from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,291 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Finnley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Finnley 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 Finnley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Finnleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Finnley, while North Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 137 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Finnley
The name Finnley is a relatively modern English name that has gained popularity in recent decades. It is believed to be a combination of the Irish surname "Finn" and the English suffix "-ley," which is derived from the Old English word "leah," meaning a meadow or clearing.
The first element, "Finn," is thought to have its roots in the Old Irish word "finn," meaning fair or white. This could potentially be linked to the ancient Irish mythological figure Finn MacCool, who was known for his fair hair and complexion. However, there is no definitive evidence of a direct connection between the name and this legendary figure.
While the name Finnley itself does not have a long historical record, the component parts have been present in various forms throughout history. The name "Finn" has been used as a given name and surname in Ireland for centuries, with records dating back to the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Finnley is in the late 19th century. In 1896, a Finnley Jones was born in Tennessee, United States. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Over the years, a few notable individuals have borne the name Finnley, although it remains relatively rare. One of the earliest notable Finnleys was Finnley Wren (1874-1957), an English architect and designer who was known for his work on various buildings and landmarks in London.
Another notable Finnley was Finnley Hendricks (1918-1992), an American chemist who made significant contributions to the field of surface chemistry and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1976.
In more recent times, Finnley Truslow (born 1982) is an Australian professional rugby player who has represented his country in several international competitions.
Additionally, Finnley Sinclair (born 1988) is a Canadian author and journalist who has written several books on topics related to environmental issues and sustainable living.
Finnley Parker (born 1995) is a British actor who has appeared in various television shows and films, including a recurring role in the popular series "Downton Abbey."
While the name Finnley is still relatively uncommon, it has gained popularity in recent years, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its unique blend of Irish and English influences, along with its pleasant sound and meaning, has contributed to its appeal as a modern given name.
People
Finnley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Finnley 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
Finnley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Finnley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,612 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Finnley 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 45,028 US residents.
Is Finnley a common name?
We classify Finnley as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,667 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Finnley most popular?
The single biggest year for Finnley was 2022, when 647 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Finnley is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Finnley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,441 people with the name Finnley, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,281 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 Finnley 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 Finnley?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Finnley on both sides of the split. Of the 4,443 people counted with this name, 2,922 were male (65.8%) and 1,521 were female (34.2%). 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 Finnley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Finnley is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Finnley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Finnley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (3,936 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 Finnley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Finnley a male name?
Yes, 69.3% of people registered as Finnley 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 Finnley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Finnley 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 Finnley 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 the name Finnley?
See how many people share the name Finnley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.