Fairy

♀ Girl

How to Pronounce Fairy

Pronounced FAIR-ee /ˈfɛr.i/High

Meaning: Fairy is the plain English word fairy used as a name, from Old French faerie, 'enchantment, land of the fays,' which traces back to Latin fata, 'the Fates.' As a given name it is a word-name in the whimsical, nature-and-virtue vein of its era, its meaning simply the winged spirit itself.Medium

In 30 seconds: Fairy is exactly the word it looks like — the enchanted sprite, from Old French faerie, 'enchantment' (said 'FAIR-ee'). It was a genuine given name a century ago.

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Origin MediumEnglish

MeaningFairy is the plain English word fairy used as a name, from Old French faerie, 'enchantment, land of the fays,' which traces back to Latin fata, 'the Fates.' As a given name it is a word-name in the whimsical, nature-and-virtue vein of its era, its meaning simply the winged spirit itself.

U.S. rank (2024)#16011 ↗ Rising

2024 U.S. births5 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)

Peak year1917

Total births (all-time)≈ 2,392

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Fairy is a word-name, taken straight from the English fairy — the enchanted spirit — which comes through Old French faerie, 'enchantment,' from Latin fata, 'the Fates.' In the late eighteen-hundreds and early nineteen-hundreds American parents used charming common words as girls' names, and Fairy sat comfortably beside Pearl, Opal, and Fern.

It reached its small high around 1917 and thinned steadily thereafter, all but gone by mid-century. Fairy reads today as a great-grandmother's whimsy name; it has not revived, though the taste for airy nature words gives it a distant kinship with modern picks like Fable or Wren.

Did you know? Fairy was a real early-twentieth-century girl's name, cresting around 1917 alongside other word-and-nature names like Opal and Pearl before whimsy names fell out of fashion.

Overall data confidence 58%

References — Fairy — English word-name; faerie/fata etymology; 1910s peak

Variations

FayeFayFae

Nicknames

FayFifi

Famous Bearers

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If you like Fairy…

Faye— a shorter name literally meaning 'fairy'

Fay— the same fairy sense in a one-syllable form

Fern— a same-era nature word used as a girl's name

Pearl— a like word-name of the early-nineteen-hundreds vogue

Explore names like Fairy

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Fairy mean?

Fairy is the English word for an enchanted spirit, from Old French faerie, 'enchantment'; that is its meaning as a name.

How do you pronounce Fairy?

It's said FAIR-ee /ˈfɛr.i/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Fairy a boy or girl name?

Fairy was used as a girl's name.

How popular is Fairy?

Fairy was an uncommon whimsy name that peaked in the nineteen-tens and has been rare for generations; it has not come back.