Fern
Of English origin, a reference to the feathery green plant.
Name Census estimates that about 6,806 living Americans carry the first name Fern. It is a predominantly female name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Fern today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fern births was 1918 (1,356 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fern. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Fern with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Fern is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 529 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
6.8K
~ 1 in 50,361 Americans
Peak year
1918
1,356 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,261
Tracked since 1880
Census
Fern in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,346 people with the first name Fern, which placed it at #2,574 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
#2,574
National first-name rank
People counted
9.3K
9,346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fern
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fern is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Fern 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 Fern at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 7,890
- Black or African American7.3% · 685
- Two or more races2.5% · 232
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 230
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 172
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 137
Gender
Gender distribution for Fern
Fern leans heavily female at 98.6% of total registrations, but 529 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Fern as a male name
- Ranked #5,719 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1915 (26 births)
Fern as a female name
- Ranked #1,261 in 2024
- 184 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (1,341 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fern leans strongly female. 9,132 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 209 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Fern: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fern 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 10,414 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
Fern 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 Fern during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ferns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri recorded the most babies named Fern, while New Hampshire, Hawaii, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 643 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fern
The name Fern derives from the Old English word 'fearn', which means the plant of the same name. It is rooted in the ancient Proto-Germanic word 'farno', which had the same meaning. The name was used in Anglo-Saxon England as early as the 8th century AD.
The fern plant has long been associated with luck, sincerity, and humility in various cultures. Its evergreen nature and ability to thrive in shaded areas made it a symbol of resilience and endurance. As a given name, Fern was likely meant to bestow these qualities upon the bearer.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Fern as a first name is Fern Grogan, an American opera singer born in 1857. In the late 19th century, the name gained popularity in the United States, particularly in rural areas where the fern plant was abundant.
Notable individuals named Fern throughout history include Fern Michaels (born 1933), an American writer of romance and thriller novels. Fern Andra (1893-1974) was a Canadian actress and singer who performed in vaudeville and on Broadway. Fern Hobbs (1883-1962) was an English-born American stage and film actress active in the early 20th century.
Fern Holland (1909-1975) was a British actress and singer who appeared in several films in the 1930s and 1940s. Fern Blodgett (1891-1977) was an American tennis player who won several major singles and doubles titles in the early 20th century.
The name Fern has remained a relatively uncommon choice in most English-speaking countries, but its natural associations and historical roots have ensured its enduring appeal as a unique and meaningful given name.
People
Fern + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fern 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
Fern: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fern?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,806 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fern 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 50,361 US residents.
Is Fern a common name?
We classify Fern as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 38,006 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fern most popular?
The single biggest year for Fern was 1918, when 1,356 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fern is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fern in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,346 people with the name Fern, or 3.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,574 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 Fern 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 Fern?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fern leans strongly female. 9,132 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 209 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Fern?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fern is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Fern most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fern in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (7,890 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 Fern in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fern a female name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Fern 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.
Is Fern still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fern 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 Fern 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 Fern?
Find out how many people have the name Fern on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.