| Ember | Fern | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Glowing ember | The fern plant |
| Origin | english | English |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | EM-bər | FURN |
| Syllables | 2 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1946 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2024 (2,183) | 1918 (1,341) |
| In 2025 | 1,952 | 186 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Ember | Fern |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 10,992 | 953 |
| 2010s | 8,583 | 717 |
| 2000s | 1,598 | 167 |
| 1990s | 629 | 97 |
| 1980s | 463 | 174 |
| 1970s | 285 | 299 |
| 1960s | 71 | 985 |
| 1950s | 17 | 2,213 |
| 1940s | 8 | 2,803 |
| 1930s | 0 | 4,570 |
| 1920s | 0 | 10,254 |
| 1910s | 0 | 9,250 |
| 1900s | 0 | 2,813 |
| 1890s | 0 | 1,937 |
| 1880s | 0 | 434 |
English word name from 'ember', a small glowing piece of burning or smouldering coal or wood left from a fire. Used directly for that image of lingering fire.
Fern is an English nature name from the green woodland plant.
Ember is more popular than Fern today: about 1,952 US babies were given the name Ember in 2025, compared with 186 named Fern.
Ember means Glowing ember (english origin), while Fern means The fern plant (English origin).
In US records, Ember first appears in 1946 and Fern in 1880, so Fern has the longer recorded history.