Fay
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Fay
Fay, also spelled Faye, who had been napping quietly since the 1930's, has, like cousins May/Mae and Ray/Rae, sat up and started rubbing her eyes, ready for a mini-comeback, especially as a middle name. In 2014, Faye hopped back onto the US Top 1000, though Fay is used much more quietly as a first name.
The original of the name, Morgan le Fay, was a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian Legends. Two prominent Fay W.'s are the British novelist Fay Weldon, and actress Fay Wray, most famous for sitting in the hand of King Kong, and there is a character named Fay in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust. Most well-known Faye is actress Dunaway.
Fay was most popular in the U.S. in the early decades of the twentieth century, reaching Number 202 in 1907, while Faye was Number 146 in 1934.
Fay may also be a short form of Faith.
Fay is also given to boys.
Pronounced FAY.
As of October 2026, Fay ranked #3795 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #202 in 1907.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4,302 | 34 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #3,486 | 45 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #3,806 | 39 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #3,867 | 38 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #4,201 | 33 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #3,568 | 43 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #3,906 | 38 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #4,220 | 34 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #3,403 | 46 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #3,795 | 39 | — | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Fay.
Fay on lists
Famous Fays
- (Vina) Fay WrayGirl
American actress
- Fay Okell BainterGirl
American actress
- Fay Elinora LanphierGirl
Miss America 1925
- Fay RipleyGirl
English actress and recipe author
- Fay Compton (born Virginia Lilian Emmeline ComptonGirl
Mackenzie), English actress
- Sarah Fay WrightGirl
American actress
- Fay WeldonGirl
English novelist
- Fay BakerGirl
American actress
- Fay TempletonGirl
American actress, singer and comedian
- Florence Priscilla (‘Fay’) McLaren (1884Girl
1964), British suffragist
Fay in pop culture
- Morgan le FayGirl
character/sorceress from Arthurian legend
- FayGirl
Charlie's neighbor in Flowers for Algernon
- Fay GrimGirl
2006 film starring Parker Posey
- Daisy Fay BuchananGirl
main female character of The Great Gatsby
- Shasta Fay HepworthGirl
female lead of the novel Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon