Ferris
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Meaning
man of vigor (Anglicized form of Fergus); immortalized by Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The story
Ferris is the Anglicized form of the old Celtic Fergus, man of vigor, a surname-style name with a built-in grin. America knows it from two directions: George Ferris, the engineer whose giant wheel amazed the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and named every Ferris wheel since, and above all Ferris Bueller, the charming truant of 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a permanent argument for taking the day off. For a solid century the name sat at the faintest level in American records, never gone and never going anywhere. Then in the 2010s it ticked upward, right as the kids who grew up quoting Bueller reached parenting age; we cannot prove the connection, but the timing is hard to ignore. It remains an uncommon pick, vigorous by definition, mischievous by association, and easier to love than to explain.
How popular is Ferris around the world?
In the United States, 309 babies were named Ferris between 2020 and 2025.
Ferris is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 71,000
In the United States, 309 babies were named Ferris between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ferris peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 73,000
In Canada, 5 boys named Ferris were born in 2024, ranked 3,231st among boys that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
England and Wales
1 in 150,000
In England and Wales, 4 boys named Ferris were born in 2025, ranked 4,275th among boys that year.
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
Austria
last on record 2023
Ferris is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 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)
South Australia
last on record 2014
Ferris 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 Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Ferris deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ferris 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 Ferris fits with your family’s names and surname.
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