6,227 Global Fern Family Members

Fern Family History

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a topographical surname used by (or for) someone who lived in a place where ferns were abundant. The derivation is fern from the Olde English pre 7th Century word fearn, a collective noun. There are a number of variations of the modern surname, ranging from Fern(e), Fearn(e), Feirn, Farn, Fairn and Vern(e) to the plural, genitive forms, Ferns, Farnes, Varnes and Varns, meaning "of the ferns", the forms with "V" for "F" being the southern and south-western Middle English variants.