Girls' name · peaked in 1916
Fern name popularity since 1925
17,425 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Fern (98.7% girls, 1.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1939 or earlier, so the typical Fern is about 87 years old in 2026. Fern peaked in 1916 as the #152 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 17,425
- Named Fern, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1916
- #152 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,220 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.7% girls
- 17,196 girls · 229 boys
- Most popular in
- Nebraska
- 3.24× its national share
Peak year is the year Fern made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Fern births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Fern peaked earlier, in 1916.
- Steepest fall: Between 1959 and 1964, Fern's share of baby girls fell by 45%, from 1 in 9,920 to 1 in 18,000.
- Fastest rise: Between 2019 and 2024, it became 1.8× more common, from 1 in 15,500 baby girls to 1 in 8,710.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Fern's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Fern.
Decade by decade
Babies named Fern in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 4,218 | 67 | – |
| 1930s | 4,570 | 80 | #289 |
| 1940s | 2,803 | 30 | #442 |
| 1950s | 2,213 | 21 | #633 |
| 1960s | 985 | 5 | #1,173 |
| 1970s | 299 | 5 | #3,188 |
| 1980s | 174 | 0 | #5,455 |
| 1990s | 97 | 0 | #6,774 |
| 2000s | 167 | 0 | #6,633 |
| 2010s | 717 | 0 | #2,200 |
| 2020–25 | 953 | 21 | #1,220 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
45.7% of babies named Fern from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Fern is most popular
The index compares Fern's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Fern.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 3.24× | 311 |
| Missouri | 2.79× | 832 |
| Oklahoma | 2.74× | 489 |
| Minnesota | 2.71× | 676 |
| Kansas | 2.57× | 359 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Fern's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Fern.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Fern (1916).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data