Festus
Festus was last recorded in 2023, when 5 babies were given it; 371 Americans have been recorded with it between 1883 and 2023 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Festus by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Festus mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Festus is “a male given name from Latin, originally a Roman cognomen.” Its etymology gives the sense “joyful, merry” (fēstus).
From fēstus (“joyful, merry”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Festus?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,826, in 2023; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
16 babies in 1916, the peak
Festus peaked in 1916, when 16 boys were given it, #1,879 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 | #12,826 | 2.9 |
| 2020 | 5 | #12,667 | 2.9 |
| 2003 | 5 | #11,445 | 2.5 |
| 1986 | 5 | #7,071 | 2.7 |
| 1978 | 5 | #6,118 | 3.0 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,357 | 3.7 |
| 1975 | 5 | #5,748 | 3.2 |
| 1972 | 5 | #5,220 | 3.1 |
| 1963 | 5 | #4,248 | 2.5 |
| 1955 | 8 | #3,048 | 3.9 |
Every recorded year (49)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | 5 | #3,918 | 2.6 |
| 1951 | 7 | #3,161 | 3.7 |
| 1950 | 6 | #3,442 | 3.4 |
| 1949 | 8 | #2,868 | 4.5 |
| 1943 | 8 | #2,807 | 5.6 |
| 1941 | 7 | #2,970 | 5.7 |
| 1939 | 5 | #3,663 | 4.5 |
| 1937 | 5 | #3,711 | 4.7 |
| 1935 | 7 | #3,065 | 6.7 |
| 1933 | 5 | #3,830 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 6 | #3,507 | 5.7 |
| 1931 | 7 | #3,204 | 6.7 |
| 1930 | 6 | #3,727 | 5.5 |
| 1929 | 12 | #2,372 | 11.2 |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,357 | 4.5 |
| 1927 | 11 | #2,582 | 9.8 |
| 1926 | 7 | #3,505 | 6.3 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,235 | 7.2 |
| 1924 | 11 | #2,713 | 9.7 |
| 1923 | 10 | #2,826 | 9.1 |
| 1922 | 13 | #2,385 | 11.9 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,181 | 13.6 |
| 1920 | 10 | #2,839 | 9.4 |
| 1919 | 10 | #2,749 | 10.2 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,197 | 13.8 |
| 1917 | 16 | #1,926 | 17.3 |
| 1916 | 16 | #1,879 | 18.0 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,358 | 13.0 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,513 | 12.2 |
| 1913 | 5 | #2,983 | 9.8 |
| 1910 | 6 | #1,474 | 30.9 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,245 | 40.9 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,385 | 33.2 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,140 | 43.2 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,129 | 41.0 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,022 | 45.2 |
| 1885 | 5 | #986 | 46.4 |
| 1884 | 8 | #716 | 69.9 |
| 1883 | 8 | #695 | 76.5 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Festus a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Festus has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 49 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Festus: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Festus, and how old are they?
An estimated 73 Americans named Festus and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026, too few to state an age range. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 758 people named Festus (2 women and girls, 756 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 82 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9.2 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Festus
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Festus and names like it
- Compare Festus and EgbertBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sFestus peaked in 1916.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Festus since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Festus: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1916The year the most babies were named Festus.
- Names starting with FMost given first.