Explore the Family Name Fails

The meaning of Fails

Scottish or Irish: shortened form of McPhail, with the addition of English post-medieval excrescent -s. This surname is very rare in Britain. Compare Fales.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Fails in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname "Fails" has seen a significant increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 16,062 in terms of surname prevalence in the United States. By 2010, it had risen to 14,382, marking an impressive 10.46% rise in rank over the decade. The count of individuals bearing this surname also expanded by 25.41%, from 1,657 in 2000 to 2,078 in 2010. Consequently, the proportion of people with the surname "Fails" per 100,000 residents also increased by 14.75%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,062	#14,382	10.46%
Count	1,657	2,078	25.41%
Proportion per 100k	0.61	0.7	14.75%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fails

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census provides some interesting insights. The majority of individuals with the surname "Fails" identified as White, representing 56.16% in 2010, up slightly from 55.22% in 2000. Those identifying as Black made up the second largest group, accounting for 38.93% in 2010, down from 40.74% in 2000. The proportion of people identifying as Hispanic showed the most dramatic increase, jumping from 0.72% in 2000 to 1.73% in 2010. Meanwhile, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaskan Native, or belonging to two or more races saw slight decreases over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	55.22%	56.16%	1.7%
Black	40.74%	38.93%	-4.44%
Two or More Races	2.17%	2.07%	-4.61%
Hispanic	0.72%	1.73%	140.28%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.84%	0.82%	-2.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.29%	-3.33%