Girl · English
Fay
Say it: FAY
Meaning
From fay 'fairy' (Old French fae), or a short form of Faith.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Used in the US from the late 1800s, peaking around the 1920s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1900s
In the United States
- 35,975 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1903, about 1 in 1,400 girls
- 33 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Faye
Famous bearers
- Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.