Fern

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Fern: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Fern: Recorded since 1982, it reached #233 in 1996, and it stood at #544 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
50times a registrar ranked it
44years from first to last
#233highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#233
1997	#298
1998	#241
1999	#311
2000	#371
2001	#367
2002	#367
2003	#362
2004	#453
2005	#446
2006	#351
2007	#426
2008	#527
2009	#601
2010	#586
2011	#615
2012	#663
2013	#626
2014	#521
2015	#500
2016	#513
2017	#472
2018	#427
2019	#362
2020	#360
2021	#339
2022	#380
2023	#334
2024	#311

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 17 of the 44 years from 1982 to 2025.

In 2024: #275 among girls in Scotland, #311 among girls in England and Wales, #407 among girls in Northern Ireland, #736 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1982–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1982
First recorded at #523 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1982 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #233 among girls in England and Wales, in 1996 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #544 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Fern appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 29 ranked years and 2,925 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1982.

Fern across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Fern's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#523 (1982)	#457 (1991)	#544 (2025)	17 of 44	68 (1982–2025)	6 (2025)
England and Wales · Girls	#233 (1996)	#233 (1996)	#311 (2024)	29 of 29	2,925 (1996–2024)	170 (1996)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#397 (2020)	#328 (2023)	#407 (2024)	3 of 5	10 (2020–2024)	4 (2023)

Fern by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Fern in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	570	4 of 10	143
2000s	886	10 of 10	89
2010s	825	10 of 10	83
2020sbusiest	644	5 of 10	129

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 129 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1998 and 1999, when recorded births fell by 60, from 169 to 109.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Fern appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1982 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #233 in England and Wales in 1996.

Fern's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#311	139	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#334	130	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#380	112	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#339	140	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#360	123	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#362	120	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#427	102	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#472	93	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#513	84	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#500	86	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#521	81	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#626	65	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#663	62	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#615	65	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#586	67	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#601	63	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#527	73	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#426	96	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#351	123	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#446	83	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#453	77	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#362	102	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#367	93	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#367	89	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#371	87	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#311	109	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#241	169	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#298	122	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#233	170	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#407	3	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#328	4	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	female	#397	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#544	6	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#736	4	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#905	3	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#661	5	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#629	5	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#734	4	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#768	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#798	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#742	4	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#862	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#624	5	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#635	4	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#620	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#576	3	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	female	#457	4	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	female	#523	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#275	13	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1982 and 2025, ranked in 32 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #233, first reached in 1996.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 170 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

Its record falls into 3 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 8 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 42 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Fergal · #46, 57y
Fergus · #66, 62y
Fernando · #418, 55y
Ferne · #424, 27y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Annalise · #233, 31y
Alasdair · #234, 30y
Freja · #232, 30y
Lawson · #234, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1980 and 1989.

Eimhin · #234, 29y
Cillin · #235, 11y
Kaylee · #235, 30y
Shonagh · #235, 32y

Fern was ranked #233 in England and Wales · Girls in 1996. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Fern and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Fern without appearing here.

Fern moved ahead of

Brittany Compare
In 2000 they stood at #371 and #275 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #367 and #871.
Gemma Compare
In 2012 they stood at #663 and #580 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #626 and #982.
Cassandra Compare
In 2024 they stood at #736 and #441 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2025 that had become #544 and #885.
Christine Compare
In 2024 they stood at #736 and #504 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2025 that had become #544 and #885.

Moved ahead of Fern

Harper Compare
In 2011 they stood at #615 and #858 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #663 and #284.
Mila Compare
In 2010 they stood at #586 and #616 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #615 and #261.
Lily Compare
In 1996 they stood at #457 and #515 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1997 that had become #576 and #254.
Ellie Compare
In 1996 they stood at #457 and #515 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1997 that had become #576 and #263.

Moved the same way as Fern

Danielle Compare
Between 1982 and 2024 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Fern went from #523 to #736 and Danielle from #104 to #504.
Donna Compare
Between 1982 and 2024 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Fern went from #523 to #736 and Donna from #33 to #736.
Katrina Compare
Between 1982 and 2024 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Fern went from #523 to #736 and Katrina from #185 to #898.
Kim Compare
Between 1982 and 2024 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Fern went from #523 to #736 and Kim from #98 to #736.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1982 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #233 in England and Wales in 1996. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Fern

Fern at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Fern across 3 official records

Fern by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Fern appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Fern

Fern and the names beside it

Fern moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Fern

Moved the same way as Fern

Fern at a glance

Fern across 3 official records

Fern by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Fern appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Fern

Fern and the names beside it

Fern moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Fern

Moved the same way as Fern