Explore the Family Name Fail
The meaning of Fail
1. Scottish and Irish: shortened form of McPhail. 2. Scottish: habitational name from Fail in Ayrshire. 3. Manx: variant of Fayle, from Mac Giolla Phoil ‘son of Paul’s servant’. 4. South German: metonymic occupational name for a retail dealer, who hawks his ware, for a huckster, from Middle High German feil ‘for sale, purchasable’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Fail in the United States?
According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Fail" has seen a significant decrease from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Fail was the 20,744th most popular surname, but by 2010 it had dropped to 30,863rd, showing a decline of nearly 49%. Similarly, the count of people possessing this surname also decreased from 1,185 in 2000 to 754 in 2010, representing a drop of over 36%. The proportion of individuals with the Fail surname per 100,000 also saw a reduction close to 41% between these two census years.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #20,744 | #30,863 | -48.78% |
| Count | 1,185 | 754 | -36.37% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.44 | 0.26 | -40.91% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fail
In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts within the Fail surname bearers. While there are no longer any identified Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals with the Fail surname as of 2010, the proportion of those identifying with two or more races doubled from 0.93% in 2000 to 1.86% in 2010. Individuals of white ethnicity still constitute the majority of the Fail surname bearers, albeit declining from 85.49% in 2000 to 82.23% in 2010. An increase can be observed among individuals identifying as Black (from 11.22% to 13.40%) and Hispanic (from 1.27% to 1.46%).
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 85.49% | 82.23% | -3.81% |
| Black | 11.22% | 13.4% | 19.43% |
| Two or More Races | 0.93% | 1.86% | 100% |
| Hispanic | 1.27% | 1.46% | 14.96% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.51% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.59% | 0% | 0% |