# Ferdinand (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ferdinand/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “journey”, “daring”, “to be daring” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɝdn̩.ænd/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ferdie |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 8,909 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 8,909 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 322, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Spanish Ferdinando, from Proto-Germanic *fardiz (“journey”) + *nanþaz (“daring”) (from the root of *ninþaną (“to be daring”)). * (Uranus): The moon is named after a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest. * (Philippines): Named after Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos

## What it means

Ferdinand is grouped under brave.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 20 | 4,714 |
| 2012 | 21 | 4,588 |
| 2013 | 24 | 4,097 |
| 2014 | 24 | 4,171 |
| 2015 | 20 | 4,770 |
| 2016 | 35 | 3,249 |
| 2017 | 17 | 5,356 |
| 2018 | 25 | 4,130 |
| 2019 | 20 | 4,849 |
| 2020 | 14 | 6,070 |
| 2021 | 16 | 5,620 |
| 2022 | 29 | 3,798 |
| 2023 | 29 | 3,824 |
| 2024 | 28 | 3,914 |
| 2025 | 24 | 4,294 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 11 | 1,909 |
| 2012 | 12 | 1,852 |
| 2013 | 11 | 1,920 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2015 | 16 | 1,511 |
| 2016 | 12 | 1,903 |
| 2017 | 12 | 1,923 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,445 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,228 |
| 2021 | 15 | 1,595 |
| 2022 | 11 | 2,018 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,546 |
| 2024 | 12 | 1,951 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2,269 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Фердина́нд
- Catalan: Ferran
- Chinese: 費迪南德 /费迪南德, 斐迪南, 費迪南 /费迪南
- Czech: Ferdinand
- Danish: Ferdinand
- Finnish: Veeti
- French: Fernand
- Georgian: ფერდინანდი
- German: Ferdinand
- Greek: Φερδινάνδος
- Hungarian: Ferdinánd, Nándor
- Italian: Ferdinando
- Latin: Ferdinandus
- Norwegian: Ferdinand
- Polish: Ferdynand
- Portuguese: Fernão, Fernando
- Russian: Фердина́нд
- Spanish: Fernando, Hernando, Hernán, Fernán
- Swedish: Ferdinand

## People named Ferdinand

- Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French writer (1894–1961)
- Ferdinand Foch, French marchal and military theorist (1851–1929)
- Ferdinand I of Austria, Austrian emperor, king of Hungary and Bohemia (1793-1875)
- Ferdinand Lassalle, German jurist and socialist (1825–1864)
- Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1608-1657)
- Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-born German automotive engineer, inventor (1875–1951)
- Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Bulgarian ruler (1861–1948)
- Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and entrepreneur, developer of the Suez Canal (1805–1894)
- August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician and astronomer (1790–1868)
- Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech Nobel prize laureate and scientist (1896–1984)
- Ferdinand von Wrangel, Baltic German explorer and Russian admiral (1797-1870)
- Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician (1841-1932)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.