Fergus
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "strong man" or "virile".
Name Census estimates that about 472 living Americans carry the first name Fergus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fergus today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fergus births was 2023 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fergus. 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
472
~ 1 in 726,174 Americans
Peak year
2023
23 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,453
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Fergus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fergus from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 142 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fergus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fergus 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 Fergus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fergus' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fergus
The name Fergus has its origins in the ancient Celtic language, specifically the Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic tongues. It is derived from the Gaelic words "fer" meaning "man" and "gus" meaning "vigor" or "force." The name can be interpreted as "man of vigor" or "virile man."
In the early centuries of the Christian era, the name was particularly popular among the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland. It is believed to have been borne by several minor kings and chieftains in these regions during the medieval period, though records from that time are scarce.
The earliest known historical figure to bear the name Fergus was Fergus Mor Mac Eirc, a legendary king of Dalriada in Scotland who is said to have lived in the 5th century AD. He is mentioned in medieval Irish and Scottish chronicles as the founder of the kingdom of Dalriada and the progenitor of the Scots who would later conquer parts of Britain.
Another notable Fergus in history was Fergus of Galloway, a 12th-century prince and lord of Galloway in southwestern Scotland. He is recorded as having played a significant role in the struggle for power between the Scottish kings and the Norman nobility during the late 12th century.
In the realm of literature, the name Fergus appears in the medieval Irish epic tale "The Cattle Raid of Cooley" (Tain Bo Cuailnge). In this work, Fergus mac Roich is a prominent character, a legendary warrior and former king of Ulster who aids the queen Medb in her conflict with Cuchulain.
The name also has connections to early Christianity. Saint Fergus was a 6th-century Irish missionary who is said to have brought Christianity to parts of Scotland. He is the patron saint of Strathearn and is commemorated in place names such as St. Fergus in Aberdeenshire.
Other notable individuals named Fergus include Fergus Ewing (born 1939), a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish Parliament; Fergus McCann (born 1944), a Scottish businessman who revived the fortunes of Celtic Football Club in the 1990s; and Fergus Garrett (born 1963), a renowned English horticulturist and head gardener at the Great Dixter gardens.
People
Fergus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fergus 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
Fergus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fergus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 472 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fergus 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 726,174 US residents.
Is Fergus a common name?
We classify Fergus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fergus most popular?
The single biggest year for Fergus was 2023, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fergus is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fergus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fergus 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.