Fayette
Feminine · “From Lafayette”
Fayette is given to both — 584 girls and 438 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Fayette is the second half of Lafayette, a name Americans gave in gratitude to the French general and have kept giving to girls and some boys. The family name belongs also to a novelist and to a squadron of American pilots.
How old is the name Fayette?
Fayette first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Fayette alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 300 people named Fayette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fayette most popular?
Fayette peaked in 1895, reaching #1426 nationally. See the whole 1895 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From La Fayette to Fayette
The story of Fayette
Madame de La Fayette, of the same family name, wrote La Princesse de Clèves, a story of a married woman who refuses the man she loves, and published it without her name; it is often called the first modern French novel. In the First World War, American volunteers flying for France before their own country joined the fighting formed the Lafayette Escadrille, and kept two lion cubs, Whiskey and Soda, as mascots. Fayette is given mostly to girls, with a real share of boys.
Meaning
From Lafayette, a French family and place name
Fayette comes from the name of the Marquis de Lafayette's family, taken from a French place name.
How the name formed
- La Fayette
- Lafayette
- Fayette
Related forms: La Fayette
Pronouncing Fayette
fay-ET
Two syllables with the stress on the second.
Nicknames for Fayette
Limited
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
- 1895
- Most girls named
- 195528 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1426reached in 1895
- Change vs 1987
- −28.6%5 in 2022, 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.
Fayette in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- La Fayette in French — related form
Fayettes among us
people named Fayette 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
Fayette 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
- A name with real American history.
- Comes with Fay as a ready short form.
- Works for either child.
- People will think of the many towns and counties called Fayette.
- It leans to girls, but a real share of Fayettes are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- It reads as an older name.
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What they receive
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Fayette
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Fayettes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Fayette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Fayette in 2025?
- Fayette is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Fayette with classmates?
- Fayette will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frances#318 · Florence#391 · Faith#254 · Felicia#5554 · Fannie#3342 · Faye#514 · Flora#607 · Freda#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Fayette? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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