Explore the Family Name Fanfan

The meaning of Fanfan

French, Haitian, and Mauritian: nickname from French fanfan ‘baby, (little) child’. This surname is very rare in France. It was brought to the US mostly from Haiti, and also from the Dominican Republic, where it is of Haitian origin and rare.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Fanfan has significantly grown in popularity within a decade. In 2000, it was ranked 48,469 in terms of popularity, and by 2010, it had moved up to 36,337, showing an approximate improvement of 25 percent. The count of individuals with this surname also saw a substantial increase, growing from 409 people in 2000 to 616 in 2010 – a rise of over 50 percent. Proportionally speaking, for every 100,000 people in the U.S., the number of individuals named Fanfan rose by 40 percent between the two census years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#48,469	#36,337	25.03%
Count	409	616	50.61%
Proportion per 100k	0.15	0.21	40%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fanfan

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insight into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Fanfan. In 2000, about 74.57 percent of individuals with this surname identified as Black, and this percentage increased to 85.71 percent by 2010. Over the same period, representation of the surname within the Hispanic community slightly increased, while the percentage of those identifying as White or as belonging to two or more races decreased. No changes were observed among those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	74.57%	85.71%	14.94%
Hispanic	10.02%	10.06%	0.4%
Two or More Races	12.22%	2.11%	-82.73%
White	2.44%	1.79%	-26.64%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%