Goodwill (Carrying Amount of Goodwill by Operating Segment) (Detail) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ 1,017,417
Foreign currency translation	581
Other adjustments	(621)
Ending balance	1,017,377
Title Insurance and Services
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	970,652
Foreign currency translation	581
Other adjustments	(621)
Ending balance	970,612
Specialty Insurance
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	46,765
Foreign currency translation	0
Other adjustments	0
Ending balance	$ 46,765

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillForeignCurrencyTranslationGainLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease), classified as other, of an asset representing the future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillOtherIncreaseDecrease
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=faf_TitleInsuranceAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=faf_SpecialtyInsuranceSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: