Ferrell
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "wanderer" or "traveler".
Name Census estimates that about 959 living Americans carry the first name Ferrell. It is a predominantly male name (92.2% of registrations). The average person named Ferrell today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferrell births was 1935 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferrell. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ferrell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
959
~ 1 in 357,408 Americans
Peak year
1935
57 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2015 SSA rank
#6,887
Tracked since 1897
Census
Ferrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 998 people with the first name Ferrell, which placed it at #12,453 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,453
National first-name rank
People counted
998
998 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ferrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferrell is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ferrell described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ferrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.7% · 706
- Black or African American21.5% · 215
- Two or more races3.0% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Ferrell
Ferrell leans heavily male at 92.2% of total registrations, but 162 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ferrell as a male name
- Ranked #11,123 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1935 (48 births)
Ferrell as a female name
- Ranked #6,887 in 1962
- 5 female births in 1962
- Peak: 1923 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferrell leans strongly male. 840 people counted with this name were male (84.0%), compared with 160 female bearers (16.0%).
Popularity
Ferrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ferrell from the 1890s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 380 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferrell by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ferrell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ferrells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Alabama, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Ferrell, while Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferrell
The name Ferrell is of English origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "ferhyll," which means "a small hill or knoll." This name was originally a surname given to someone who lived near or on a small hill.
In the early days, the name was spelled in various ways, such as Ferhyll, Ferhylle, and Ferihill. The spelling "Ferrell" emerged in the late 13th century and became the most common variation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ferrell can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as a surname. However, its use as a given name is not well documented until the late 15th century.
The name Ferrell gained some prominence in the 16th century when Sir John Ferrell (c. 1520 - 1588) was a prominent English politician and military leader during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He served as a member of Parliament and played a crucial role in the English victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Another notable figure with the name Ferrell was William Ferrell (1657 - 1719), an English clergyman and author who wrote several works on theology and philosophy.
In the 18th century, Ferrell became a popular name among the Quakers, a religious group known for their simplicity and emphasis on nature. One prominent Quaker with this name was John Ferrell (1718 - 1798), a preacher and writer who advocated for abolition and social reform.
Moving into the 19th century, Ferrell gained popularity as a first name in the United States. One notable bearer was Ferrell Edmunds (1821 - 1897), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who rose to the rank of Brigadier General.
Another significant figure was Ferrell Lockridge (1890 - 1958), an American novelist and playwright best known for his acclaimed work "Raintree County," which was later adapted into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
While the name Ferrell has seen some decline in popularity in recent decades, it remains a unique and historically significant name rooted in English heritage and associated with individuals who have made notable contributions in various fields throughout history.
People
Ferrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferrell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ferrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 959 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferrell going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 357,408 US residents.
Is Ferrell a common name?
We classify Ferrell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,073 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferrell was 1935, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferrell is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ferrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 998 people with the name Ferrell, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,453 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ferrell in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ferrell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ferrell leans strongly male. 840 people counted with this name were male (84.0%), compared with 160 female bearers (16.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ferrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferrell is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ferrell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ferrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.7% (706 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ferrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ferrell a male name?
Yes, 92.2% of people registered as Ferrell in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ferrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ferrell in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ferrell can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Ferrell as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.