Ferlin
Origin uncertain, possibly derived from Old English meaning "far one" or "wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Ferlin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ferlin today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferlin births was 1958 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferlin. 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
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
1958
26 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1982 SSA rank
#5,886
Tracked since 1954
Census
Ferlin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 239 people with the first name Ferlin, which placed it at #34,236 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
#34,236
National first-name rank
People counted
239
239 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ferlin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferlin is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (16.3%) and Black (10.5%). 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 Ferlin 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 Ferlin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.6% · 140
- American Indian and Alaska Native16.3% · 39
- Black or African American10.5% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 16
- Two or more races4.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 8
Popularity
Ferlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ferlin from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 122 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferlin 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 Ferlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferlin
The given name Ferlin is believed to have originated from the Old English words "feorlen" or "ferlien," which meant "to wonder" or "to marvel." This name first appeared in the 7th or 8th century in the Anglo-Saxon region of what is now England. It was a relatively uncommon name during that time period, but it did have some usage among the lower and middle classes of society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ferlin can be found in the Domesday Book, a medieval census conducted in 1086 by William the Conqueror. The entry mentions a landowner named Ferlin of Oxfordshire. This suggests that the name was in use, albeit sparingly, in the late 11th century.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Ferlin de Montferrant was a French crusader who participated in the Seventh Crusade led by King Louis IX of France. De Montferrant was born around 1220 and died in the Holy Land during the Crusade in 1248.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian painter named Ferlin de Fabriano was active in the early 15th century. He was known for his frescoes and altarpieces, particularly those found in the churches of central Italy. De Fabriano was born around 1370 and died in 1428.
In the 16th century, a Scottish scholar and philosopher named Ferlin Macdonald made significant contributions to the development of early modern philosophy. He was born in 1510 in Aberdeen and died in 1583 in Edinburgh.
Another notable figure with the name Ferlin was an English poet and playwright named Ferlin Hawkins, who lived during the 17th century. Hawkins was born in 1635 in London and died in 1705. He is best known for his satirical plays that commented on the social and political issues of his time.
While the name Ferlin has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by a diverse range of individuals from different backgrounds and eras. Despite its obscurity, the name has persisted for centuries, reflecting its unique and intriguing origins.
People
Ferlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferlin 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
Ferlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferlin 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Ferlin a common name?
We classify Ferlin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferlin was 1958, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferlin is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ferlin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 239 people with the name Ferlin, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,236 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 Ferlin 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 Ferlin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferlin leans strongly male. 237 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 12 female bearers (4.8%). 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 Ferlin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferlin is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (16.3%) and Black (10.5%). 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 Ferlin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ferlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (140 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 Ferlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ferlin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ferlin 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 Ferlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ferlin 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 Ferlin 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 people are named Ferlin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.