# Fern (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/fern/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A topographic surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,482 |
| US rank (2010) | 12,491 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 124,394 people |
| Change since 2000 | -4.8% (2,606 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /fɝːn/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From fern; in the case of the surname, it was given to someone who lived in a place where there was an abundance of these plants.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Fern in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 88% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 6.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Fern in Australia.

## People named Fern

- Cody Fern, Australian actor and filmmaker

## Similar surnames

Ferrin, Fearon, Ferron, Fearn, Frame, Forney, Farina, Foran, Fromm, Farren, Frahm, Farney.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.