| Fern | Hope | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The fern plant | hope |
| Origin | English | english |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | FURN | HOHP |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 1918 (1,341) | 2000 (2,321) |
| In 2025 | 186 | 868 |
| Trend | Rising | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Fern | Hope |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 953 | 6,849 |
| 2010s | 717 | 13,760 |
| 2000s | 167 | 18,690 |
| 1990s | 97 | 14,307 |
| 1980s | 174 | 7,624 |
| 1970s | 299 | 11,013 |
| 1960s | 985 | 8,733 |
| 1950s | 2,213 | 5,008 |
| 1940s | 2,803 | 3,009 |
| 1930s | 4,570 | 2,086 |
| 1920s | 10,254 | 3,376 |
| 1910s | 9,250 | 1,920 |
| 1900s | 2,813 | 429 |
| 1890s | 1,937 | 293 |
| 1880s | 434 | 128 |
Fern is an English nature name from the green woodland plant.
A direct English virtue name taken from the ordinary word 'hope', one of the trio of Christian virtue names (Faith, Hope, Charity) that came into use among Puritans in the 16th-17th centuries. The vocabulary word descends from Old English 'hopa'.
Hope is more popular than Fern today: about 868 US babies were given the name Hope in 2025, compared with 186 named Fern.
Fern means The fern plant (English origin), while Hope means hope (english origin).
In US records, Fern first appears in 1880 and Hope in 1880, so Fern has the longer recorded history.