Farrel
Masculine · “Man of valor”
Farrel is given to both — 831 boys and 38 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Farrel looks as though it should belong with farrier and ferrous, and it does not — those come from the Latin word for iron, and this one is Irish and has nothing to do with metal.
How old is the name Farrel?
Farrel first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Farrel alive today was born around 1944, making them about 81 years old. About 400 people named Farrel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Farrel most popular?
Farrel peaked in 1937, reaching #1344 nationally. See the whole 1937 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From O Fearghail to Farrel
The story of Farrel
The Latin word for iron gives English a coherent little family: ferrous and ferric in chemistry, farrier for the man who shoes horses, and the chemical symbol for iron, which is why that symbol matches no English word. A farrier was originally a blacksmith of a particular kind, and the trade produced surnames across Europe. None of that touches this name, which arrived from Irish by a separate road and only looks like a member of the family — a good example of how much of what feels like etymology is really just spelling coincidence.
Meaning
Man of valor
The Irish personal name behind the surname joins a word for a man to one meaning valor. The resemblance to the iron words in English is accidental, which is the usual situation when an Irish name and a Latin one meet in English spelling.
How the name formed
- O Fearghail
- Farrell
- Farrel
Related forms: Fearghal
Pronouncing Farrel
FAIR-ul
Two syllables, stress at the front. The single l is not audible.
Nicknames for Farrel
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
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 195221 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1344reached in 1937
- Change vs 1985
- −37.5%5 in 2003, from 8
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.
Farrel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fearghal in Irish — related form
Farrels among us
people named Farrel are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Farrel sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and unusually direct.
- It is read correctly on sight.
- It carries an Irish surname that is well documented.
- Farrell is the standard spelling and his will be written that way.
- It reads as a surname, which is the trade.
- The spelling is recorded for a few girls, but nearly every child with it is a boy.
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Farrel
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Farrels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Farrel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Farrel in 2025?
- Farrel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Farrel with classmates?
- Farrel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frank#513 · Fred#1932 · Francis#420 · Frederick#435 · Floyd#2230 · Francisco#322 · Franklin#359 · Fernando#387
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Farrel? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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