Ferman
Masculine · “German Fuhrmann”
Before railways, everything moved on a cart, and every European language has a surname for the man who drove one. German Fuhrmann, English Carter and Waggoner, French Charretier, Italian Carrettiere. It was the one transport trade every country needed in the same quantity.
How old is the name Ferman?
Ferman first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Ferman alive today was born around 1940, making them about 85 years old. About 600 people named Ferman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ferman most popular?
Ferman peaked in 1886, reaching #845 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 8,065 places below that high. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Fuhrmann to Ferman
The story of Ferman
Land transport before the railway was slow, expensive and universal, and the carter was one of the few trades common to every settled region of Europe. The result is a surname family with a member in every language: Fuhrmann and Wagner in German, Carter, Cartwright and Waggoner in English, Charretier and Charron in French, Carrettiere and Carraro in Italian, Kolar in Czech and Polish. The same is true of the smith, the miller and the baker, which is why those four occupations dominate European surname lists everywhere. Where the trade was regional, so is the name: there are no widespread surnames for a vine dresser in Scandinavia or for a reindeer herder in Spain. Reading a country's commonest surnames is therefore a reasonable guide to what most people did there when surnames were fixed.
Meaningscholars disagree
German Fuhrmann, a carter
Ferman is most likely an American spelling of Furman, from German Fuhrmann, a carter or wagoner, from fuhre, a load or cartload. Alternative sources are possible, including the English surname Firman, from Old English for a companion or servant, and Freeman. The unrelated Turkish and Persian word ferman, an imperial decree, is not the source of the American name. The peak is 1886.
How the name formed
- Fuhrmann
- Furman
- Ferman
Related forms: Fuhrmann · Furman
Pronouncing Ferman
FUR-mun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Ferman and Furman are homophones, since the first vowel before r is the same in both spellings for most Americans.
Nicknames for Ferman
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 192133 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #845reached in 1886
- Change vs 2022
- +60.0%8 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ferman in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fuhrmann in German — related form
- Furman in English — spelling variant
Fermans among us
people named Ferman are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Ferman
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ferman sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Ferman beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ferman in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- The German source has a clear documented meaning.
- It is easy to say and spell out.
- Furman is the commoner spelling.
- Several unrelated sources produce similar spellings.
- The 1886 peak places it in the nineteenth century.
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Ferman
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Fermans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Ferman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ferman in 2025?
- Ferman ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ferman?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Ferman — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ferman with classmates?
- Ferman will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ferman
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ferman? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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