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The term Fairchildren refers to the seminal role that Fairchild Semiconductor played in spawning spin-off companies in Silicon Valley. It is a play on the words "Fairchild" and "children," the latter referring to the formation of (unofficial) spin-off companies from a parent company.

In research, reporting and popular lore related to Silicon Valley, the term "Fairchildren" has been variously used to refer to:

1. The spin-off companies created by former employees of Fairchild Semiconductor. This is the usage of historian Leslie Berlin (the acknowledged expert on Fairchild) in her 2001 journal article ^[1], in her 2001 doctoral dissertation^[2], and in her biography of Robert Noyce^[3].
2. The founders of such firms. This is the earliest usage, e.g. Tom Wolfe's 1983 profile of Noyce ^[4] or a 5,000-word profile of Silicon Valley ^[5] in 1999.
3. Former Fairchild Semiconductor employees, as in a 1988 New York Times article.^[6]
4. The original founders of Fairchild Semiconductor, more commonly known as the "Traitorous Eight", "Fairchild Eight" or "Shockley Eight". This has been used by a PBS website and a book on stock options. ^[7]

Note that there is an overlap among the last three categories, as some of the Fairchild Eight (such as Noyce and Eugene Kleiner) left Fairchild to form other companies.

1. ^ Leslie R. Berlin, "Robert Noyce and the Rise and Fall of Fairchild Semiconductor, 1957–1968," Business History Review, 75, 1 (2001), 63-101
2. ^ Leslie R. Berlin, "Entrepreneurship and the Rise of Silicon Valley: The Career of Robert Noyce, 1956-1990," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 2001
3. ^ Leslie Berlin, The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005
4. ^ Tom Wolfe, "The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce," Esquire, December 1983, pp. 346-374
5. ^ Henry Norr, "Growth of a Silicon Empire," San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 1999, p. D1
6. ^ Andrew Pollack, "Fathers of Silicon Valley Reunited," New York Times,, April 16, 1988, p. 41.
7. ^ Blasi, Joseph; "Douglas Kruse, and Aaron Bernstein" (2003). "1", In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options (And Why Every Employee Should Have Them). Basic Books, 7. 

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