Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Friday isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1972. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Friday through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 30
- 0 boys · 30 girls
- Most popular year
- 1974
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 7 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 8 in 1974. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 452 as a first name in 2020; 6,720 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Friday’s family of names
In English usage, Friday as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the German form FREITAG.
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Friday
- Friday EkpoNigerian footballerborn 1969
- Friday ZicoSouth Sudanese association football playerborn 1994
- Friday ElahorNigerian footballerborn 1967
- Friday EtimNigerian footballerborn 2002
- Friday KasteniZimbabwean cricketerborn 1988
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Friday, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kiva
“protected by God”
5% boys · 95% girls
Kina
“woman of China”
>99% girls
Tuesday
“born on Tuesday” · “born on a Tuesday”
>99% girls
Holley
“of the holly tree” · “near the valley of the holly bushes”
>99% girls
Kristi
“follower of Christ”
>99% girls
Phaedra
Phaedra is a feminine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek.
>99% girls
Christy
“follower of Christ” · “one who bears Christ inside”
1% boys · 99% girls
Karri
“a joyous song; a small, strong woman” · “of the wind”
6% boys · 94% girls