Fara
Feminine · “joy”
Fara is four letters that mean something in at least three places. It is the name of a seventh-century abbess in France who founded a monastery that still carries it. It is a Lombard word for a migrating clan, which is why so many Italian towns are called Fara something. And it is one spelling of the Arabic Farah, which means joy.
How old is the name Fara?
Fara first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Fara alive today was born around 1976, making them about 49 years old. About 1,000 people named Fara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fara most popular?
Fara peaked in 1976, reaching #1729 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 11,479 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Where it comes from
From Burgundofara to Fara
The story of Fara
Burgundofara was a Frankish noblewoman who founded a double monastery in the seventh century, in the wave of Irish-influenced monasticism that swept northern France; the place is still called Faremoutiers, which means Fara's monastery. Separately, the Lombards who moved into Italy in the sixth century organized themselves into farae — kindreds that traveled together — and left the word on the map. Separately again, Farah is a widely used Arabic name. American records carry Fara in small numbers from the early twentieth century, and any of the three roads may be behind a particular family's use.
Meaningscholars disagree
joy, if it is the Arabic; otherwise a clan or kindred
Three readings, none of which can be assigned without knowing the family. The Arabic farah means joy or gladness and is a common name across the Muslim world. The Lombard fara named a kin-group on the move and survives in dozens of Italian place names. The Frankish abbess Burgundofara shortened her own name to Fara, and the town of Faremoutiers is named for her.
How the name formed
- Burgundofara
- Fara
Related forms: Farah · Fare · Fara
Pronouncing Fara
FAH-ruh
Two syllables, stress on the first, with an open first vowel. Some American families say FAIR-uh instead, following Farrah; both are heard and the spelling does not settle it.
Nicknames for Fara
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 197655 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1729reached in 1976
- Change vs 2023
- −14.3%6 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Fara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Farah in Arabic — related form
- Fare in French — related form
- Fara in Italian — same name
Faras among us
people named Fara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Fara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Fara
- #13208
- Fara on the 2025 chart
- #637
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Fara went to 6 girls in 2025, but Farrah, Farah and Pharah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 344, which makes it the 637th most-given girls’ name of the year — 12,571 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 4,672 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 267,878 for Fara itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Odean test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Fara's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Odean climbed just as high around 1922, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Odean's path sketches the road Fara is walking now.
Fara sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Fara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Fara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two open syllables — it fits any form and survives any accent.
- It has three separate real histories behind it, in three unrelated languages.
- It sits well after long or consonant-heavy surnames.
- It is genuinely uncommon while being completely easy to say.
- Farrah, Farah and Fahra all sit close by and will be written instead.
- The first vowel is unsettled in American use, so the name arrives two ways.
- Its meaning cannot be given in one line, since three unrelated words meet in it.
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What they receive
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Fara
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Faras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Fara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Fara?
- Fara is one of 4 recorded spellings. Farrah is the more common one — 168 births in 2025 against 6 for Fara.
- How popular is the name Fara in 2025?
- Fara ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Fara?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Fara — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Fara with classmates?
- Fara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Fara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kathya#13208 · Vi#13208 · Camie#13208 · Caralyn#13208 · Aleesa#13208 · Latifah#13208 · Danay#13208 · Deona#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Fara? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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