How rare is the name Fern?

9,341 people in the United States have the first name Fern, about 1 in 32,334. It ranks #2,575 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

FERN

#2,575

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
9,341
About
1 in 32,334
This common or more
80.2%
Who bears it

Of the 9,341 people named Fern, 84.4% reported their origin as White, 7.3% as Black and 2.5% as two or more races. 97.8% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Fern peaked in 1918, when 1,356 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1918
Births that year
1,356
In 2025*
186 ▼86%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 38,195 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Fern by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #266. The largest share of babies named Fern, 54.6%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#538450
1890s#2851,957
1900s#2662,848
1910s#2829,386
1920s#35210,414
1930s#5354,650
1940s#8122,833
1950s#1,0902,234
1960s#1,816990
1970s#4,066304
1980s#6,967174
1990s#13,20897
2000s#11,503167
2010s#4,397717
2020s#2,573974
Before 19017%
Greatest Generation 1901–2754.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4520.9%
Baby boom 1946–6410.3%
Generation X 1965–801.7%
Millennials 1981–960.6%
Generation Z 1997–120.8%
2013 and later4.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Fern is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Fern has been most common in North Dakota (7×), South Dakota (5.9×), and Nebraska (5×), and least common in Florida (0.03×).

28,410 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Fern

#2,573 Chadwick · 9,353#2,574 Frederic · 9,345#2,576 Ruthann · 9,335#2,577 Brodie · 9,321

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Fern, most common first.

#14,395 Ferne · 819#53,155 Ferna · 102

Also a last name

As a last name, Fern ranks #13,173 of 156,621, with 2,224 people. See Fern as a last name

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