Ferdinand

Where Ferdinand comes from

From Spanish Ferdinando, from Proto-Germanic *fardiz (“journey”) + *nanþaz (“daring”) (from the root of *ninþaną (“to be daring”)). * (Uranus): The moon is named after a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest. * (Philippines): Named after Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos
— Wiktionary's entry for Ferdinand
  • Germanic
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1857
    Ferdinand de Saussure born
    Swiss linguist and philosopher
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #291 among boys — 32 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1884
    Peak, #227
    55 babies named Ferdinand — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1903
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #487.
  5. 1917
    Ferdinand Marcos born
    President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages, best known for a 13th century king of Spain, but seldom popular in English.
Namesakes
  • Ferdinand Marcos · President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, 1917–1989
  • Ferdinand de Saussure · Swiss linguist and philosopher, 1857–1913
  • Ferdinand Foch · French marchal and military theorist, 1851–1929
  • Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor · emperador del SIR de 1556 a 1564, 1503–1564
  • Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor · Holy Roman Emperor, 1578–1637

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.