Ferid
A masculine Turkish name meaning "unique, incomparable, extraordinary."
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ferid. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ferid today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferid births was 1990 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferid. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ferid. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1990
5 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1990 SSA rank
#8,549
Tracked since 1990
Census
Ferid in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 242 people with the first name Ferid, which placed it at #33,953 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,953
National first-name rank
People counted
242
242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ferid
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferid is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Black (6.2%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ferid described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ferid at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 213
- Black or African American6.2% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- Two or more races0.4% · 1
Popularity
Ferid: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferid 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 Ferid during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferid
The name Ferid is derived from the Arabic word "farid," which means "unique" or "incomparable." It has its origins in the Middle Eastern and North African regions, where Arabic is widely spoken. The name can be traced back to the 7th century CE, around the time of the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language.
In Islamic literature, the word "farid" is often used to describe Allah (God) as the one and only, unique and incomparable. This religious connotation might have influenced the popularity of the name Ferid among Muslims. However, the name is not exclusively Islamic and has been used by people of various faiths and backgrounds in the regions where Arabic has had an influence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ferid can be found in the works of renowned Persian poet and philosopher, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273 CE). In his poetry, Rumi frequently used the word "farid" to describe the divine and the concept of unity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ferid. One of the most famous was Ferid ed-Din Attar (1145-1221 CE), a Persian poet and mystic who wrote extensively on Sufism and spirituality. His work, "The Conference of the Birds," is considered a classic in Persian literature.
Another prominent figure was Ferid Pasha (1851-1923), an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Grand Vizier (prime minister) of the Ottoman Empire from 1920 to 1922. He played a significant role in the final years of the Ottoman Empire and the transition to the modern Republic of Turkey.
In the field of literature, Ferid Muhić (1943-2021) was a renowned Bosnian writer and poet. His works explored themes of identity, war, and the human condition, and he was widely regarded as one of the most influential literary voices in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ferid Murad (born 1936) is an American physician and pharmacologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998 for his discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
Ferid al-Din Attar (1142-1220) was a celebrated Persian poet and theoretician of Sufism. His masterpiece, "The Conference of the Birds," is considered one of the greatest works of Persian literature and a classic in the genre of allegorical poetry.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Ferid throughout history, showcasing its rich cultural and literary heritage.
People
Ferid + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferid 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
Ferid: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferid?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferid 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ferid a common name?
We classify Ferid as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferid most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferid was 1990, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferid is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ferid in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 242 people with the name Ferid, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,953 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ferid in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ferid?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferid appears almost entirely male. Of the 236 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ferid?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferid is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Black (6.2%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ferid most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ferid in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (213 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ferid in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ferid a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ferid 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.
Is Ferid still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ferid in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ferid can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Ferid?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.