Fern

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Fern, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Clover
• Dawn
• Dove
• Lark
• Briar
• Iris
• Ivy
• Brooke
• Blossom
• Meadow
• Juniper
• Jade

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Fern is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Chile, Spain

  Also written Fēřň

• Portuguese given name107 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, Colombia

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

  Also written Fenix, เฟิร์น, เฟล, เฟริน, Fénix

69 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Fern is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from OE fearn ‘fern’; dweller among the ferns; first attested John de la Ferne 1275 SRWo

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• From the vocabulary word denoting the plant (Old English fearn). Use of this word as a given name is of comparatively recent origin: it is one of several words denoting flowers and plants that have been pressed into service during the past FERRIS hundred years. Its popularity is steadily increasing.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Variantes: Finea, Finees, Fynea, Fyneas, Phineas, Phyneas

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• In English, Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of vascular plants classified in the division Pteridophyta that lack seeds and reproduce by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, iron; Milan; other origin

  as a name·Dicionario Sefaradi De SobrenomesDictionary Of Sephardic Surnames Inclusive Cristaos-Novos, Conversos, Marranos, Italianos,…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Fern Hobbsb. 1883USAmerican lawyer
• Fern Andrab. 1893USAmerican actress (1893-1974)
• Fern Emmettb. 1896USactress (1896-1946)
• Fern Headleyb. 1900USAmerican ice hockey player
• Fern Personsb. 1910USAmerican actor, SAG/AFTRA activist (1910-2012)
• Fern Kupferb. 1946USAmerican writer
• Fern Fitzgeraldb. 1947USAmerican actress
• Fern Huntb. 1948USAmerican mathematician
• Fern Brittonb. 1957GBEnglish television presenter
• Fern Sutherlandb. 1987NZNew Zealand actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Is Fern a male or female name?

Fern is a female name. National registers that list it by sex list it as female: United States (Census Bureau, 2020).

What does the name Fern mean, and where does it come from?

‘person who lives where there are many ferns’ Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

What are other forms of the name Fern?

In the etymology graph, Ferne is a form of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Fern?

A machine transcription gives /fɝn/ (IPA) for English.

In which country does Fern have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 9.3 thousand people named Fern, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled fern.

How common is the name Fern?

In the United States, the national register counted 9,341 people named Fern in 2020, about 1 in 36 thousand residents.

How common is Fern compared with other names?

In Singapore, Fern is the 792nd most common given name of 52,448 given names recorded there.