Ferris

Where Ferris comes from

Ferris hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1888
    Ferris Taylor born
    American actor
  2. 1893
    First appearance
    #907 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1902
    Peak, #744
    10 babies named Ferris — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1903
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  5. 1921
    Ferris Fain born
    American baseball player
  6. 1986
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Ferris Taylor · American actor, 1888–1961
  • Ferris Fain · American baseball player, 1921–2001
  • Ferris · German music producer and disc jockey, born 1971
  • Ferris Webster · American film editor, 1912–1989
  • Ferris Jacobs, Jr. · Union Army officer, 1836–1886

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.