Fern (name)

Fern

The Fern Gatherer by Charles Sillem Lidderdale, 1877.
Gender	Primarily female
Origin
Word/name	English
Meaning	plant name

Fern is an English topographic name from the Old English fearn. It refers to someone who lives among ferns. The name is used as a given name and a surname. ^{[1] [2] [3]} The name is in use primarily in English-speaking countries. It has been in use since the 1800s and has also occasionally been in use for boys, though it is primarily a feminine name. ^[3] There were 133 newborn American girls named Fern in 2020, 140 in 2021, 148 in 2022, and 156 in 2023. ^[4] There were 26 newborn girls given the name in Canada in 2021. ^[5]

Notable people with the name Fern or Ferns include:

Given name

• Fern Andra (1893–1974), American actress
• Fern Battaglia (1931–2001), American baseball player
• Fern Bell (1913–2000), American baseball player
• Fern Brady (born 1986), Scottish comedian
• Fern Britton (born 1957), English television presenter
• Fern G. Z. Carr (born 1956), Canadian poet
• Fern Schumer Chapman (born 1954), American journalist
• Fern Coppedge (1883–1951), American painter
• Fern Cunningham, American sculptor
• Fern Deacon (born 1998), English actress
• Fern Emmett (1896–1946), American film actress
• Fern Ferguson, American baseball player
• Fern Fitzgerald (born 1947), American actress
• Fern Gauthier (1919–1992), Canadian ice hockey player
• Fern Headley (1901–1956), American ice hockey player
• Fern Hobbs (1883–1964), American attorney
• Fern Holland (1970–2004), American lawyer
• Fern Hunt (born 1948), American mathematician
• Fern Jones (1923–1996), American gospel singer
• Fern Kinney (born 1949), American singer
• Fern Kupfer (born 1946), American author
• Fern LeBlanc (born 1956), French professional ice hockey player
• Fern Majeau (1916–1966), French ice hockey player
• Fern Mallis (born 1948), American consultant
• Fern Michaels (born 1933), American author
• Fern Hubbard Orme (1903–1993), American politician
• Fern Perreault (1927–2021), French ice hockey player
• Fern Persons (1910–2012), American film actress
• Fern Rahmel (1914–2009), Canadian writer
• Fern Riddell (born 1986), British historian
• Fern Rivard (1946–1993), Canadian ice hockey player
• Fern Flanagan Saddler (born 1955), American judge
• Fern Sawyer (1917–1993), American cowgirl
• Fern Shaffer (born 1944), American painter
• Fern Shubert, Republican political figure
• Fern Shumate (1910–2003), American writer
• Fern Shollenberger (1923–1977), American baseball player
• Fern M. Smith (born 1933), American judge
• Fern Blodgett Sunde (1918–1991), Canadian wireless radio operator
• Fern Sutherland (born 1987), New Zealand actress
• Fern Villeneuve (1927–2019), Canadian aviator
• Fern Whelan (born 1988), English footballer

Stage name

• Fern (rapper) (born 1979), Puerto Rican rapper

Surname

• Charlie Fern, American speechwriter and journalist
• Cody Fern, Australian actor, screenwriter
• Fanny Fern, pseudonym of American writer Sara Willis Parton
• Fritzi Fern, motion picture actress from Akron, Ohio
• George Fern, English footballer
• Harold Fern, British president of swimming's world governing body FINA
• Henry Ferne, Chaplain Extraordinary to Charles I
• Joseph J. Fern, first Mayor of Honolulu
• Rodney Fern (1948–2018), English footballer
• Ronald Ferns, English illustrator, designer, cartoonist and surrealist painter
• Tan Paey Fern, Singaporean table tennis player
• Tom Fern, English footballer

Fictional characters

• Fern Arable, from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web
• Fern the Green Fairy, one of The Rainbow Fairies from the Rainbow Magic book franchise
• Fern Martin from the film The Hard Man
• Fern Mayo/Vylette from Jawbreaker , 1998 black comedy film
• Fern Walters, from the children's book and animated television series Arthur
• Fern, from Magical × Miracle
• Fearne Calloway, from Critical Role Season 3.
• Fern, from the animated series Adventure Time
• Fern (German for far) from Frieren
• Fern, a fairy from Pixie Hollow Games voiced by Zendaya
• Fern, the changeling protagonist of video game Rusted Moss

References

1. Hanks, Patrick (8 May 2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. p. 566. ISBN   978-0-19-977169-1.
2. Seary, E.; Kirwin, William (1 November 1998). Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 176. ISBN   978-0-7735-6741-2.
3. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN   0-19-861060-2.
4. "Popular Baby Names". Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
5. "First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators". Statistics Canada. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.