Fernado
A Spanish masculine name meaning "brave traveler" or "adventurer".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Fernado. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fernado today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fernado births was 1977 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fernado. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1977
9 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2006 SSA rank
#12,653
Tracked since 1968
Census
Fernado in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,399 people with the first name Fernado, which placed it at #9,789 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
#9,789
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fernado
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fernado is Hispanic at 91.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Fernado 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 Fernado at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.2% · 1,276
- White4.0% · 56
- Black or African American3.0% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 9
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Fernado: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fernado from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fernado 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 Fernado 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 Fernado
The name Fernado originated from the Spanish and Portuguese languages. It is derived from the Germanic name Ferdinand, which comes from the words "fridu" meaning peace and "nanth" meaning courage or daring. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula.
Fernado was a common name among the Spanish and Portuguese nobility, and it can be found in several historical records from the 12th to the 15th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Ferdinand III, also known as Saint Ferdinand, who was the King of Castile and Leon from 1217 to 1252.
Another notable figure with the name Fernado was Ferdinand II of Aragon, who ruled over the Kingdom of Aragon from 1479 to 1516. He was also the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile, and together they were known as the Catholic Monarchs, who sponsored Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas.
In the 16th century, Fernado Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, was a renowned Spanish military leader who played a significant role in the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule. He was born in 1507 and died in 1582.
During the 17th century, Fernado de Herrera was a Spanish poet and writer who contributed to the development of the Spanish Golden Age literature. He was born in 1534 and died in 1597.
In the 18th century, Fernado Sor was a Spanish classical guitarist, composer, and teacher. He was born in 1778 and died in 1839, and he is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the classical guitar.
The name Fernado has been used throughout history by various notable figures, reflecting its deep roots in the Spanish and Portuguese cultures. Its meaning, derived from the Germanic words for peace and courage, has resonated across generations and continues to be a popular choice for parents today.
People
Fernado + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fernado 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
Fernado: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fernado?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fernado 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Fernado a common name?
We classify Fernado as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fernado most popular?
The single biggest year for Fernado was 1977, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fernado is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fernado in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,399 people with the name Fernado, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,789 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 Fernado 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 Fernado?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fernado appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,392 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Fernado?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fernado is Hispanic at 91.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Fernado most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Fernado in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.2% (1,276 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 Fernado in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fernado a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fernado 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 Fernado still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fernado 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 Fernado 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 have Fernado as a first name?
See how many Americans are named Fernado on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.