Ferdinand
A masculine name of German origin meaning "brave traveler".
Name Census estimates that about 3,028 living Americans carry the first name Ferdinand. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ferdinand today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferdinand births was 1918 (259 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferdinand. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 113,195 Americans
Peak year
1918
259 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,902
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Ferdinand: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ferdinand from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,774 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferdinand by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ferdinand during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ferdinands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Ferdinand, while Florida, Alabama, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 177 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferdinand
The name Ferdinand has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the compound words "fridu" meaning "peace" and "nanthu" meaning "daring" or "brave." It surfaced during the Middle Ages, around the 6th century AD, as a masculine name prevalent among the Visigoths, a branch of the Germanic tribes who ruled portions of the Iberian Peninsula and parts of modern-day France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ferdinand can be traced back to the 9th century, when it appears in the historical records of the Frankish Kingdom. A notable bearer of the name from this era was Ferdinand I, Count of Castile, who lived from circa 910 to 970 AD and played a significant role in the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile.
The name gained further prominence during the 11th century with Ferdinand I, known as "the Great," who reigned as the King of León and Castile from 1037 to 1065. His reign marked a crucial period in the Reconquista, the centuries-long struggle to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish rule.
Another famous Ferdinand was Ferdinand II of Aragon, who lived from 1452 to 1516. He was the King of Aragon and, through his marriage to Isabella I of Castile, became the first monarch to rule over a unified Spain after the union of the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile.
In the 16th century, Ferdinand I, who lived from 1503 to 1564, was the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Bohemia and Hungary. His reign saw significant developments in the Reformation and the expansion of the Habsburg Empire.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Ferdinand I of Austria, who lived from 1793 to 1875, was the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. He played a pivotal role in the revolutions of 1848 and the subsequent reforms in the Austrian Empire.
People
Ferdinand + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferdinand as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ferdinand: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferdinand?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,028 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferdinand going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 113,195 US residents.
Is Ferdinand a common name?
We classify Ferdinand as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,885 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferdinand most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferdinand was 1918, when 259 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferdinand is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ferdinand a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ferdinand in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.