Ferris
One of English origin referring to a manor by a crossing.
Name Census estimates that about 1,810 living Americans carry the first name Ferris. It is a predominantly male name (90.1% of registrations). The average person named Ferris today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferris births was 2024 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferris. 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 Ferris with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 189,367 Americans
Peak year
2024
66 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,446
Tracked since 1893
Census
Ferris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,751 people with the first name Ferris, which placed it at #8,310 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
#8,310
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,751 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ferris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferris is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Ferris 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 Ferris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 1,208
- Black or African American18.4% · 323
- Two or more races4.6% · 81
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Ferris
Ferris leans heavily male at 90.1% of total registrations, but 307 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ferris as a male name
- Ranked #2,446 in 2024
- 56 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (56 births)
Ferris as a female name
- Ranked #9,753 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1981 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferris leans strongly male. 1,450 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 301 female bearers (17.2%).
Popularity
Ferris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ferris from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 468 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ferris remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferris 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 Ferris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ferris' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Michigan, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Ferris, while Utah, Ohio, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferris
The given name Ferris has its origins in the Latin language, specifically derived from the word "ferrum," which means iron or metal. It is believed to have emerged as a surname during the Middle Ages, referring to individuals involved in metalworking or blacksmithing professions.
In its earliest recorded use as a given name, Ferris can be traced back to the late 12th century in England and France. The name's association with iron and metalwork may have contributed to its popularity among families involved in related occupations or living in areas with a strong metalworking industry.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ferris was Ferris de Derby, an English metalworker and blacksmith who lived in the late 13th century. His name was documented in various historical records, including tax rolls and guild registers, reflecting the name's connection to the metalworking trade.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ferris. One prominent example is Ferris Greenslet (1875-1959), an American literary scholar and editor who served as the chief editor of the Houghton Mifflin publishing company for over two decades. His contributions to the literary world included editing works by notable authors such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Another well-known figure was Ferris Webster (1793-1857), an American politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1829 to 1833 and played a significant role in shaping legislation during his tenure.
In the realm of engineering and innovation, Ferris Bryant (1892-1975) was an American inventor and entrepreneur. He is best known for designing and constructing the iconic Ferris Wheel, which debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This iconic amusement ride has since become a staple at fairs and carnivals worldwide.
Another noteworthy individual was Ferris Traylor (1927-2015), an American football player who played as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, recognizing his remarkable contributions to the sport.
Throughout its history, the name Ferris has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, ranging from metalworkers and tradesmen to scholars, politicians, inventors, and athletes. Its etymology and connection to the word "ferrum" have endured, serving as a reminder of the name's rich cultural heritage and its ties to the metalworking traditions of the past.
People
Ferris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferris 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
Ferris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,810 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferris 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 189,367 US residents.
Is Ferris a common name?
We classify Ferris as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferris most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferris was 2024, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferris is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ferris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,751 people with the name Ferris, or 0.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,310 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 Ferris 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 Ferris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferris leans strongly male. 1,450 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 301 female bearers (17.2%). 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 Ferris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferris is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Ferris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ferris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (1,208 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 Ferris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ferris a male name?
Yes, 90.1% of people registered as Ferris 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 Ferris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ferris 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 Ferris 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 the name Ferris?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ferris on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.