I can't find the meaning of this name!

My friend and I are still brainstorming names and she’s always liked the name [name]Farren[/name]. I looked it up, and I’m getting so many different meanings and origins! Maybe you guys have better resources than me? Also, do you like it for a girl?

[name]Hi[/name], [name]Blaire[/name]!

I can’t say for sure. NB says it means “pharaoh,” right? But, babynames.com lists it as meaning iron-grey. So, I really don’t know!

All I can tell you is that I happen to know a girl named [name]Faren[/name], with that spelling. Her name is [name]Faren[/name] [name]Joy[/name] S. I can’t picture it on a boy, as it is in the same spot as [name]Tegan[/name], [name]Peyton[/name], [name]Hayden[/name], and [name]Auden[/name] for me…

Take care!

[name]Lemon[/name] :slight_smile:

Behindthename.com is my go-to site for factual/historical information on names. It doesn’t have [name]Farren[/name], but it has [name]Faron[/name], Farran and Ferran.

[name]Faron[/name]
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From a French surname which was derived from the Germanic given name [name]Faro[/name].

Farran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From an English surname which was derived from Old French ferrant meaning “iron grey”.

Ferran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan
Catalan form of [name]FERDINAND[/name]

I’d say pick your favorite. :slight_smile:
I can see it being used on a girl, but it sounds very masculine to my ears and I’d personally prefer it on a boy.

It may not really have a “meaning.” It usually depends on what name the person was hearing when they chose it, perhaps it is a surname - those do have meanings also, and are subject to be spelled a wider variety of ways. It could be someone liked to name after someone named [name]Darren[/name] or [name]Karen[/name] and put an F in the front instead - names like that really don’t have a solid etymology, or are tied to the inspiration name, i.e., it would mean the same as [name]Darren[/name] or [name]Karen[/name] essentially, rather than something more like [name]Farrah[/name] or [name]Farrell[/name].

I don’t know where you heard it or where that other person’s parents heard it as to derive a meaning - for them. I’d ultimately say this name has no definitive meaning at all, but my automatic association would be to words related to iron, in Latin, ferrum. Alternately, you could say it was someone’s way of turning the word “fairy” or “faerie” into a legitimate looking and professional sounding name. Still yet, an invention related to a legitimate name, like [name]Jada[/name] –> [name]Jaden[/name], [name]Farrah[/name] –> [name]Farren[/name], or related to someone’s last name, like Farr, Farraday, [name]Farrell[/name], etc., or actually the name was [name]Farren[/name].

Surname Database to the rescue. They have actually covered this:
http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=farren

“This interesting name is of Old French origin, introduced into [name]England[/name] after the [name]Norman[/name] Conquest of 1066, and has two possible interpretations. Firstly, it may derive from a nickname for a person with iron-grey hair, or one who habitually dressed in grey, from the Old French ‘ferrant’, (iron)grey, a derivative of ‘fer’, iron, from the Latin ‘ferrum’. Secondly, the modern surnames Farrant, Farrent, Farran(d), Ferran(d) and [name]Farren[/name], may derive from the medieval personal name ‘Ferrant, Ferrant’, Old French forms of the originally Old Spanish given name ‘[name]Ferdinand[/name]’, composed of the elements ‘farth’, journey, expedition, with ‘nanth’, daring, brave.”

[name]Case[/name] closed!