Fain
A surname that may come from a nickname or from a French word meaning “lazy” or “idle,” though its exact origin is not secure.
The #4,379 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,013 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Fain is not securely explained by the historical sources available here. One line of interpretation connects it with Middle English or French forms related to the sense “idle,” “slothful,” or “lazy,” from Old French words such as faineant. Another possibility is that some recorded bearers simply reflect the spelling of a nickname or a shortened French form that later stabilized as a surname.
History
The name appears in English records in the medieval and early modern periods, though the excerpts here do not provide a clean dictionary entry for its derivation. Because the evidence is mostly incidental mentions, the historical path of the surname is hard to pin down with confidence. It may have been reinforced in Britain by French influence, especially after the medieval period.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old French faineant is the ancestor of the modern English word “fainéant,” meaning idle or doing nothing.
From the historical record
“Edw.L R, 1770. Uarried— Georn Fain and Am GbtlnbaB : St. Geo. Hu. Sq. i. iqS. Norfolk, four m IE. CO. Norf., r”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances