Fionn
An Irish name meaning fair or light-haired.
Name Census estimates that about 651 living Americans carry the first name Fionn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fionn today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fionn births was 2018 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fionn. 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 Fionn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
651
~ 1 in 526,504 Americans
Peak year
2018
40 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,594
Tracked since 1973
Census
Fionn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 586 people with the first name Fionn, which placed it at #18,401 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
#18,401
National first-name rank
People counted
586
586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fionn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fionn is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Fionn 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 Fionn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.4% · 489
- Two or more races6.5% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 24
- Black or African American3.6% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 14
Popularity
Fionn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fionn 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 297 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fionn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fionn 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 Fionn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fionns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Fionn, while Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fionn
The given name Fionn has its origins in the Irish Gaelic language, where it is rendered as Fionn or Finn. It is an ancient name with roots dating back to the 3rd century AD, or possibly even earlier. In Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill was a legendary hunter-warrior who led the Fianna, a band of elite mercenary soldiers.
The name Fionn is derived from the Old Irish word "finn," meaning "fair-haired" or "white." This likely referred to the pale complexion or blond hair associated with the ancient Celtic tribes of Ireland. Variations of the name include Finn, Fyn, and the feminine form Fiona.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Fionn can be found in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, a collection of stories and legends that revolve around the exploits of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors. These tales were passed down orally for centuries before being written down in the 12th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Fionn or one of its variants. One of the earliest was Fionn mac Áedha, an Irish king who ruled the Kingdom of Munster in the 7th century AD. Another was Finn Arngrimsson, a Norwegian chieftain and explorer who is believed to have discovered Greenland around 860 AD.
In the 12th century, Finn Folcvaldsson was a Norwegian Viking who participated in the conquest of Dublin and is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. Several centuries later, Finn Magnusson (1563-1629) was a prominent Icelandic scholar and writer who played a significant role in preserving the country's literary heritage.
Another notable figure was Finn Vowed, also known as Finn Vordidsen (1609-1670), a Danish astronomer and mathematician who made important contributions to the study of comets and the calculation of planetary orbits.
While the name Fionn has ancient roots and a rich history, it has remained popular throughout the centuries and continues to be used in various forms around the world today.
People
Fionn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fionn 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
Fionn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fionn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 651 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fionn 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 526,504 US residents.
Is Fionn a common name?
We classify Fionn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 657 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fionn most popular?
The single biggest year for Fionn was 2018, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fionn is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fionn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 586 people with the name Fionn, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,401 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 Fionn 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 Fionn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fionn leans strongly male. 559 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 24 female bearers (4.1%). 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 Fionn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fionn is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Fionn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fionn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.4% (489 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 Fionn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fionn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fionn 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 Fionn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fionn 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 Fionn 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 Fionn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.