Fairy vs Faisal
American parents have registered 2,392 Fairys since 1880, against 2,150 Faisals. But in 2025 it was Faisal that was commoner, 40 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Fairy Faisal
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 135 years in which either name was published, Fairy for 82 years and Faisal for 53 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Fairy | Faisal | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,392 | 2,150 |
| Most in one year | 80 | 82 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 40 |
| Estimated living today | 430 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 77 | 19 |
| Peak year | 1917 | 2014 |
| Best rank | 772nd girls | 1,812th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 3,036th |
| First recorded | 1882 | 1973 |
| Girls / boys | 2,392 / 0 | 0 / 2,150 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Fairys alive today are over 77; half the Faisals are over 19. That is 58 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Fairy Kentucky (9.0×), Mississippi (6.3×), South Carolina (5.3×)
- Faisal California (3.6×), Virginia (3.4×), New York (3.1×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Fairy and Faisal.