Fabian is the English form of the Latin Fabianus, from the Roman family name Fabius, which comes from faba and means "bean", a reminder that the Fabii were once farmers. Pope Fabian, a 3rd-century martyr, gave the name to the church, and in America the teen idol Fabian made it a pop name in the late 1950s. Fabian ranked number 284 in 2000, peaked at number 253 in 2007 and has eased to number 468 in 2025.