Fernanda
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Meaning
“Spanish feminine form of Ferdinand; the Germanic elements are debated, with boldness only one traditional interpretation”
Goes by Fê, Fer, Nanda. See all nicknames
The story
Fernanda is the feminine form of Ferdinand in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. Ferdinand is an old Germanic name whose elements are interpreted through ideas such as journey, peace, boldness, and daring, but the exact first element is disputed. That is why translating Fernanda simply as adventurous or bold sounds neater than the evidence allows. The name has a particularly natural life in Brazil, where Portuguese writes the same form, Fernanda, and national records show it as a major twentieth-century choice. On this site's American curve it arrives quietly in the 1990s, remains modest in the 2000s, and continues upward through the 2010s to its strongest point in the 2020s. Nanda is a familiar Portuguese short form. Fernanda's real strength is not a tidy slogan but continuity: an old European name fully at home in modern Latin American families.
How popular is Fernanda around the world?
In the United States, 3,539 babies were named Fernanda between 2020 and 2025. In Mexico City, there were 699 registrations of Fernanda in 2022.
Fernanda is on the official records of the United States, Mexico City, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Montevideo, Spain, Canada, Austria and France.
Fernanda crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of a Spanish-speaking record and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full list: Spanish and Portuguese
United States
1 in 6,200
In the United States, 3,539 babies were named Fernanda between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Fernanda peaked in the 2010s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Mexico City City
1 in 170
In Mexico City, there were 699 registrations of Fernanda in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (34 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 310
In Chile, 571 girls were registered as Fernanda in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 390
At the 2022 census, 523,152 people in Brazil were named Fernanda, the 35th most common name, with a median age of 31.
Among people named Fernanda living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 7,431 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
1 in 2,300
In Argentina, 282 newborns were given the name Fernanda in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Puerto Rico
1 in 3,000
In Puerto Rico, 6 babies were named Fernanda in 2025, and 128 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Montevideo City
1 in 3,1002011
In Montevideo, 8 girls named Fernanda were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Spain
1 in 6,300
In Spain, 7,110 residents are named Fernanda, the 368th most common name among women, with a mean age of 62 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Canada
1 in 52,000
In Canada, 7 girls named Fernanda were born in 2024, ranked 2,710th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Fernanda was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Fernanda were born in 2025, ranked 5,578th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
England and Wales
last on record 2022
Fernanda is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Poland
last on record 2013
Fernanda is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
South Australia
last on record 2012
Fernanda is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Fernanda
Most people given the name Fernanda in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Fernanda travels
Portuguese · Portuguese feminine form of Ferdinand; the Germanic elements are debated, so no single adventurous or bold translation is certain
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Fernanda · Portuguese and Brazilian baby names · Mexican American baby names
The Fernanda deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Fernanda truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Fernanda fits with your family’s names and surname.
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