Given name & surname · also Irish
Ferry
“descendant of Fearadhach”
Ferry is a surname from Irish (ultimately Middle English).
Meaning & origin
What it means
Ferry goes back to Irish Ó Fearadhaigh, meaning “descendant of Fearadhach.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Ferry comes from Irish, and ultimately from Middle English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Irish Ó Fearadhaigh (“descendant of Fearadhach”), from Middle English feri (“ferry”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ferry through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 75
- 65 boys · 10 girls
- Most popular year
- 1952
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1960. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 10 in 1926. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 296 as a first name in 2020; 9,655 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.
Ferry’s family of names
In French usage, Ferry has a conventional equivalent in the German form Friedrich. In English usage, Ferry as a surname has a related form in Farry. In English usage, Ferry as a surname has a related form in FERRIE.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ferry has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Middle English roots to each of them.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ferry
- Ferry CorstenDutch trance producer and DJ (born 1973)
- Ferry WeertmanDutch swimmerborn 1992
- Ferry GrafAustrian-Finnish singer (1931-2017)
- Ferry de ClugnyRoman Catholic cardinal1410–1483
- Ferry SiklaGerman actor (1865-1932)
- Ferry de HaanDutch footballerborn 1972
- Ferry RotinsuluIndonesian footballerborn 1982
- Ferry de RegtDutch footballerborn 1988
- Ferry DoedensDutch actorborn 1990
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ferry, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kinnie
Kinnie is a masculine given name from Irish.
97% boys · 3% girls
Gary
“one who wields a spear”
>99% boys
Cary
“from the river” · “from the fort on the hill”
95% boys · 5% girls
Kerry
“having black hair”
71% boys · 29% girls
Glennon
“from the secluded narrow valley”
>99% boys
Sherman
“one who cuts wool cloth”
>99% boys
Stanford
“from the stony ford”
>99% boys
Marsh
“from the marshland”
>99% boys