Fernanda
Of Portuguese origin, it means brave traveler or adventurer.
Name Census estimates that about 19,041 living Americans carry the first name Fernanda. It sits at #500 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fernanda today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fernanda births was 2009 (1,282 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fernanda. 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 Fernanda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fernanda is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
19K
~ 1 in 18,001 Americans
Peak year
2009
1,282 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2009 SSA rank
#500
Tracked since 1914
Census
Fernanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,647 people with the first name Fernanda, which placed it at #1,524 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
#1,524
National first-name rank
People counted
22K
21,647 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
77.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fernanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fernanda is Hispanic at 77.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.8%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Fernanda 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 Fernanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino77.8% · 16,831
- White18.8% · 4,076
- Black or African American1.6% · 353
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 218
- Two or more races0.6% · 122
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 47
Gender
Gender distribution for Fernanda
Out of the 19,601 babies given the name Fernanda since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Fernanda as a male name
- Ranked #9,257 in 2009
- 8 male births in 2009
- Peak: 2009 (8 births)
Fernanda as a female name
- Ranked #500 in 2024
- 609 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (1,274 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fernanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,648 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Fernanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fernanda 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 7,128 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fernanda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fernanda 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 Fernanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fernandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Fernanda, while Kentucky, District of Columbia, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 461 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fernanda
The name Fernanda has its roots in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, originating from the Germanic name Ferdinand. It is believed to have derived from the elements "fridu" meaning "peace" and "nanth" meaning "daring" or "brave."
In the 12th century, the name Ferdinand gained popularity across the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to the renowned Castilian ruler Ferdinand III, also known as Saint Ferdinand. His reign saw the reconquest of a significant portion of Spain from the Moors, solidifying his status as a revered figure in Spanish history.
The feminine form, Fernanda, emerged as a distinct name in its own right during the Middle Ages. It was frequently bestowed upon daughters of noble families, particularly in Portugal and Spain, as a nod to the esteemed Ferdinand III.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fernanda can be found in the chronicles of the 13th-century Portuguese ruler, King Afonso III. His daughter, born in 1239, was named Fernanda, likely in honor of her paternal ancestor, Ferdinand III of Castile.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Fernanda. One such figure was Fernanda de Torres, a 16th-century Spanish poet and writer, renowned for her contributions to the Golden Age of Spanish literature.
In the 18th century, Fernanda de Bragança, a Portuguese infanta, played a significant role in the dynastic affairs of Europe. Born in 1752, she married her uncle, King Joseph I of Portugal, and later served as regent during the reign of her son, John VI.
Another prominent Fernanda was Fernanda de Toro, a 19th-century Venezuelan writer and activist. Born in 1845, she was a pioneering voice for women's rights and education in her home country.
In the realm of arts, Fernanda Gattinoni, an Italian fashion designer born in 1900, made her mark as the founder of the renowned Gattinoni fashion house, renowned for its elegant and sophisticated creations.
Lastly, the 20th century saw Fernanda Pivano, an Italian writer and translator born in 1917, who played a pivotal role in introducing the works of American authors, such as Ernest Hemingway and Allen Ginsberg, to Italian audiences.
People
Fernanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fernanda 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
Fernanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fernanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,041 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fernanda 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 18,001 US residents.
Is Fernanda a common name?
We classify Fernanda as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fernanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Fernanda was 2009, when 1,282 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fernanda is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fernanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,647 people with the name Fernanda, or 7.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,524 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 Fernanda 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 Fernanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fernanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,648 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Fernanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fernanda is Hispanic at 77.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.8%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Fernanda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Fernanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.8% (16,831 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 Fernanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fernanda a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Fernanda 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 Fernanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fernanda 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 Fernanda 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 common is the name Fernanda?
You can see how many people share the name Fernanda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.