Fonda
Feminine · “an inn”
Fonda is two things at once. In Spanish it is an ordinary word, a small inn of the kind that serves a set lunch. In America it is a Dutch surname from the Mohawk Valley, old enough that a village in New York State is named after the family who carried it.
How old is the name Fonda?
Fonda first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Fonda alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 3,200 people named Fonda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fonda most popular?
Fonda peaked in 1963, reaching #764 nationally. See the whole 1963 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From De Fonda to Fonda
The story of Fonda
Jellis Douwse Fonda came from Friesland to New Netherland in the middle of the seventeenth century, and his descendants spread along the Mohawk River; the village of Fonda, New York carries the family's name, and so does a line of American actors descended from the same stock. As a first name Fonda appears in American records in the twentieth century, part of the group of surnames given to daughters with no family connection to them at all. Meanwhile in Spanish the same five letters have meant an inn since the Middle Ages, which is why the name reads as entirely ordinary in one language and entirely invented in the other.
Meaningscholars disagree
an inn, in Spanish; as a surname, of uncertain origin
The two are unrelated. Spanish fonda came through the Arabic funduq from the Greek pandokeion, a house that takes all comers. The Dutch surname's own source is not settled; the family who brought it to New Netherland wrote it Fonda and De Fonda, and the derivations usually offered are guesses.
How the name formed
- De Fonda
- Fonda
Pronouncing Fonda
FON-duh
Two syllables, weight at the front, the first with the vowel of fond. Spanish says the word the same way, which is unusual for a name that crosses languages.
Nicknames for Fonda
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
- 1910
- Most girls named
- 1963181 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #764reached in 1963
- Change vs 1994
- −16.7%5 in 1997, from 6
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.
Fondas among us
people named Fonda 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
Fonda 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
- It is short, ends on a soft vowel, and is spelled exactly as it sounds.
- It reads as a surname, which gives it the unfussy quality parents look for in surname names.
- It is a real word in Spanish and a real family name in America, so it has ground under it in either language.
- In Spanish-speaking company the name is an everyday noun for a cheap restaurant.
- It is closely tied to one American acting family, and older people will hear that before anything else.
- Over the phone it is easily taken for Fawn, Donna or Rhonda.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Fonda to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Fonda? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Fonda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Fondas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Fonda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Fonda in 2025?
- Fonda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Fonda with classmates?
- Fonda 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 Fonda? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Fonda and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle