UK boy's name
Fergal
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Fergal is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Fergal popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4270, with 4 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1999, with 12 births.
This profile covers 144 England and Wales registrations across 22 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 33% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 237 living people in the UK are called Fergal. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Fergal ranked #4270 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 4 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1999, when 12 boys were registered as Fergal.
- • Fergal ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #334 in 2020.
- • About 237 living people in the UK are estimated to have Fergal as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#4270
2024
Births in 2024
4
Latest year
Peak year
1999
12 births
Estimated living
237
2026
Popularity
Fergal over time
The chart below shows babies named Fergal registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Fergal, the clearest high point is 1999. The latest England and Wales figure is 4 births in 2024, compared with 12 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fergal by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Fergal was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #4556 | 10 | 3 |
| 2010s | #4055 | 23 | 6 |
| 2000s | #1950 | 75 | 9 |
| 1990s | #1444 | 36 | 4 |
Geography
Where Fergal is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Fergal. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Fergal ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #334 in 2020.
Across the UK
Fergal in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#595 in 2007
2 years of NRS records, 6 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#334 in 2020
15 years of NISRA records, 89 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Fergal
-
Fergal Quinn
snooker player
Northern Irish snooker player
2000-
-
Fergal Doherty
Gaelic football player
Gaelic football player
1981-
-
Fergal McCusker
association football player; Gaelic football player
Gaelic footballer (born 1970)
1970-
-
Fergal Caraher
politician
PIRA volunteer
1970-1990
-
Fergal Stapleton
visual artist; installation artist
artist
1961-
-
Fergal Keane
film director; journalist
Irish journalist
1961-
Related
Names similar to Fergal
- Freddie 46,945
- Finley 42,410
- Frederick 19,866
- Finlay 17,879
- Frankie 17,528
- Finn 14,413
- Felix 14,361
- Fraser 6,470
- Flynn 6,170
- Frank 5,992
- Filip 5,876
- Francis 5,744
FAQ
Fergal: questions and answers
How popular is the name Fergal in the UK right now?
In 2024, Fergal was ranked #4270 for boys in England and Wales, with 4 births registered.
When was Fergal most popular?
The peak year on record was 1999, with 12 babies registered as Fergal in England and Wales.
How many people are called Fergal in the UK?
A total of 144 babies have been registered as Fergal across the 22 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 6 more in Scotland and 89 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Fergal most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Fergal ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #334 in 2020. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.