Given name & surname · also German, Gaelic
Ferdinand
“a courageous voyager”
Ferdinand is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a courageous voyager.”
Original SpanishFernando
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a courageous voyager.”
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Spanish and Germanic naming traditions.
How it developed
From Spanish Ferdinando, from Proto-Germanic *fardiz (“journey”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
The name has historical associations with royal or imperial families.
Ferdinand through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 8,909
- 8,909 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 259 babies
- 2025
- 24
- #4,294 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +14%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 24 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 4,294 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 13.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 259 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,930 as a first name in 2020; 2,812 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ferdinand’s family of names
In English usage, Ferdinand has a diminutive in Ferdie. In English usage, Ferdinand shares a linguistic root with Fernando. In English usage, Ferdinand has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Hernando.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ferdinand has relatives in 22 languages. Lines run from its Spanish roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 23
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Hernandocognate · Spanish, Portuguese
- FernandezSpanish
- Fernáncognate · Spanish
- Hernáncognate · Spanish
- Carlosequivalent
- FerranCatalan, English
- FerdinanEnglish
- Ferdinantequivalent
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Ferdinandasequivalent
- Ferdinandsen“son of” surname · English
- HernãoPortuguese
- Veertiborrowing · Greenlandic
- Feardorchaoriginal
- Fearadhachoriginal
- FerdinandusLatin
- ΦερδινάνδοςGreek
- Fernãocognate · Portuguese
- FerdinándHungarian
- Nándorcognate · Hungarian
- Ferrandalso known as · English, Occitan
- ErlantzBasque
- Nandrucognate
- Ferraocognate
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Ferdinand
- Ferdinand MarcosPresident of the Philippines from 1965 to 19861917–1989
- Eugène DelacroixFrench painter (1798–1863)
- Ferdinand de SaussureSwiss linguist and philosopher (1857–1913)
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarAmerican basketball player (born 1947)
- Ferdinand FochFrench marchal and military theorist (1851–1929)
- Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperoremperador del SIR de 1556 a 1564 (1503-1564)
- Ferdinand VIIKing of Spain (1784–1833) (r. 1808; 1813–1833)
- August BebelGerman social democrat politician (1840–1913)
- Ferdinand II, Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor1578–1637
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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If you love Ferdinand, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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