Fergie
A diminutive of either the feminine name Fergus or the surname Ferguson.
Name Census estimates that about 140 living Americans carry the first name Fergie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fergie today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fergie births was 2007 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fergie. 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
140
~ 1 in 2,448,245 Americans
Peak year
2007
28 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,039
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Fergie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fergie from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 68 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fergie 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 Fergie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fergies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fergie
The name Fergie is a diminutive form of the Scottish surname Ferguson, which originated from the Gaelic personal name Fearghus. This name is derived from the elements "fear" meaning "man" and "gus" meaning "vigor" or "force." The name Fergie was likely a nickname given to those with the surname Ferguson.
Historically, the name Fearghus was borne by several Scottish kings and noblemen. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ferghus dates back to the 7th century AD, when Ferghus Mor mac Eirc was the King of Dalriada, a medieval kingdom in western Scotland. Another notable figure was Fergus of Galloway, a 12th-century King of Galloway, a region in southwestern Scotland.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in the form of Fergusius in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history. This suggests that the name was also used in Ireland during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several prominent individuals with the name Fergie. In the 16th century, Fergus Mullarky was an Irish Catholic bishop who played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation in Ireland. In the 18th century, Fergus Fergusson was a Scottish poet and philosopher who wrote on various subjects, including astronomy and agriculture.
Another notable figure was Fergus Suter, a 19th-century Scottish artist known for his landscape paintings of the Scottish Highlands. Fergus Millar, born in 1935, is a renowned British historian and academic who specialized in the study of ancient Rome.
In more recent times, the name Fergie gained widespread recognition as the nickname of Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Although her given name is Sarah, she was commonly referred to as Fergie during her marriage to the British royal.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Fergie
People
Fergie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fergie 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
Fergie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fergie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fergie 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 2,448,245 US residents.
Is Fergie a common name?
We classify Fergie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fergie most popular?
The single biggest year for Fergie was 2007, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fergie is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fergie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fergie in the SSA data are female. 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.