Humanverse

Ferne vs Ferrin

American parents have registered 4,676 Fernes since 1880, against 123 Ferrins. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Ferne against Ferrin, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ferne Ferrin

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 95 years in which either name was published, Ferne for 82 years and Ferrin for 13 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Ferne Ferrin
Total US births 4,676123
Most in one year 24718
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 470110
Median age today 8036
Peak year 19161987
Best rank 400th girls4,474th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 18841944
Girls / boys 4,676 / 095 / 28

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Fernes alive today are over 80; half the Ferrins are over 36. That is 44 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Ferne and Ferrin.