# Farah (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/farah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “joy” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfærə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 6,376 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 98 / 6,278 (98% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,839, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic فَرَح (faraḥ, “joy”).

## What it means

Farah is grouped under joy.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 164 | 1,395 |
| 2012 | 178 | 1,324 |
| 2013 | 166 | 1,392 |
| 2014 | 152 | 1,474 |
| 2015 | 172 | 1,374 |
| 2016 | 157 | 1,468 |
| 2017 | 143 | 1,536 |
| 2018 | 177 | 1,290 |
| 2019 | 120 | 1,732 |
| 2020 | 153 | 1,426 |
| 2021 | 159 | 1,381 |
| 2022 | 157 | 1,432 |
| 2023 | 173 | 1,310 |
| 2024 | 167 | 1,364 |
| 2025 | 164 | 1,350 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 7 | 6,445 |
| 1998 | 8 | 7,059 |
| 1999 | 5 | 10,440 |
| 2000 | 5 | 10,944 |
| 2003 | 5 | 11,444 |
| 2004 | 5 | 11,925 |
| 2005 | 5 | 12,000 |
| 2006 | 7 | 9,898 |
| 2007 | 8 | 9,165 |
| 2009 | 6 | 11,447 |
| 2010 | 5 | 12,878 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,863 |
| 2014 | 9 | 8,355 |
| 2015 | 5 | 12,671 |
| 2017 | 8 | 9,111 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 83 | 509 |
| 2012 | 75 | 565 |
| 2013 | 53 | 743 |
| 2014 | 66 | 613 |
| 2015 | 65 | 637 |
| 2016 | 58 | 703 |
| 2017 | 55 | 733 |
| 2018 | 43 | 864 |
| 2019 | 51 | 749 |
| 2020 | 31 | 1,065 |
| 2021 | 47 | 779 |
| 2022 | 55 | 676 |
| 2023 | 47 | 754 |
| 2024 | 53 | 708 |
| 2025 | 47 | 778 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4 | 2,337 |
| 1999 | 4 | 2,425 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,036 |
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2004 | 3 | 3,651 |
| 2005 | 3 | 3,849 |
| 2007 | 3 | 4,333 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |

## People named Farah

- Farah Boufadene, Algerian artistic gymnast
- Farah Fath, American actress
- Farah Pandith, American diplomat
- Farah Jacques, Canadian athletics competitor
- Farah Mohamed, Canadian women's rights activist
- Farah Khan Ali, gemologist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.