Where have all the F names gone?
By Kelli Brady of NameFreak!
In 1880, there were five boy names that started with F in the Top 100:
Floyd
Francis
Frank
Fred
Frederick
In 1932, Franklin was added to the mix (probably due to President Roosevelt, who is pictured here as a baby). In 1958, Frank was the only F boy name left in the top, and it finally fell after 1988. There hasn’t been an F boy name in the Top 100 since.
In 1880, there were 4 girl names that started with F in the Top 100:
By 1915, only Florence and Frances remained, and in 1943 only Frances remained. However, Frances fell out after 1955 and there were no F girl names in the Top 100 for over 30 years, until Felicia briefly broke in for the years of 1986 and 1987, and then not again until Faith entered in 1999.
As of 2012, Faith is the only F name in in the Top 100. Is F an unattractive sound for parents nowadays? I don’t really see any reason as to why F names are not more popular other than the style of name. The names that were in the top in 1880 stayed in the top for quite a while, but all of them are considered pretty old and dated. There are several other F names that make it into the current Top 500: Fiona, Francisco, Fernando, Finn, Fabian, Fatima, Felix, Frank, Finley (g), Fernanda, Francesca, and Finnegan. So F names are not completely down and out, they are just rare.
What is your favorite F name? Would you like to see any of these “old” F names return to the top?
Originally posted at NameFreak! on August 1, 2013 and revised for Nameberry.
Kelli Brady is a stay at home mom of two who needed an outlet for her name obsession. She found it at NameFreak!, a blog dedicated to a wide variety of name-related whims and fancies. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.