Name Awesome

Farah

#1,350 in 2025Girls' name

Joy

Farah has been given to 6,376 babies in the U.S. since 1960. In 2025 it ranked #1,350 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2012, with 178 recorded.

Babies named Farah, 2025

1 in 20,200

Farah over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Farah: meaning, origin, and history

Joy

Arabic

What Farah means

Farah means “joy”, associated with faraḥ.

Origin, language, and formation

Farah is used in English and French. Its origins include Arabic.

Farah comes through Arabic فَرَح.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Farah is pronounced /ˈfærə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,278 girls were recorded with the name Farah between 1960 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 178 in 2012; its best national rank was #803 in 1976.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,426 in 2020 to #1,350 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,374 in 2015 to #1,350 in 2025.

In the United States, 98 boys were recorded with the name Farah between 1988 and 2017. Its highest annual count was 9 in 2014; its best national rank was #6,438 in 1989.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Farah?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 20,200
164 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 9,800
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,350
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
14,013 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Farah sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 14,013 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Farah. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Farahs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Farah was born before 2005 — so the typical Farah is around 20 today.

Median birth year
2005
About 20 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
25.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
58.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,278
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 25.2% of all recorded uses (1,580).

Is Farah rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+14
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+76
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+24
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
0.95×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
92.1%
Peak was 2012 (178)
Years since peak
13
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#803
1976

Spellings of Farah

Farah is not the most common spelling — Sarah is, with 44.6% against Farah's 0.25%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Farah is used

Across 2016–2025, Farah was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 3,704 girls, against 1 in 8,436 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 50,000).

227 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 3,704
  2. 2New York1 in 4,167
  3. 3New Jersey1 in 5,882
  4. 4Florida1 in 7,143
  5. 5California1 in 7,692
  6. 6Illinois1 in 7,692
  7. 7Texas1 in 9,091
  8. 8Virginia1 in 9,091

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Farah around the world

Where Farah ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #778
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1977–2025
    #539
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2008–2025
    #397
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    1995–2025
    #608
    in 2025
  • France
    1960–2025
    #498
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2023
    #489
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #647
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1983–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Farah by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,350
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 76
Best rank ever
#803
1976
Peak year
2012
178 that year
First recorded
1960
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,278
Count in 2025
164

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,438
1989
Peak year
2014
9 that year
First recorded
1988
Last recorded
2017
All-time count
98
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Farah

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

FarrahTarahZarahKyrahMarahFaraAmirahFarynFaridaAmarahFarrenNorahDarahDevorahKirahKarahCarahFarihaSerahKorahKeturahMyrahSarrahKiarah

Names with a curve like Farah

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Farah, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MikaShoshanaYaelDalilaAyeshaEleniDevorahKerenFatimahRochelBlytheNechama

Sibling names for Farah

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Farah

Top names of 2012, Farah's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1976Girls' names starting with FArabic Girl Names