Explore the Family Name Ference

The meaning of Ference

1. Hungarian: patronymic from Ferenc. 2. Americanized form of Hungarian Ferencei, Ferenci, or some other derivative of Ferenc. 3. Probably also English: patronymic from Farrant.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Ference in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Ference has seen a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 'Ference' was ranked as the 17,180th most popular surname in the United States, but by 2010 it slipped to 18,950th. The number of people with this surname also dropped from 1,521 in 2000 to 1,440 in 2010, a decline of approximately 5.33%. Accordingly, the proportion of individuals with the Ference surname per 100,000 decreased by 12.5%, from 0.56 in 2000 to 0.49 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,180	#18,950	-10.3%
Count	1,521	1,440	-5.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.56	0.49	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ference

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Ference, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of people with this surname identify as White, although the percentage dipped slightly from 96.98% in 2000 to 95.35% in 2010. The proportion of individuals identifying as Hispanic or Black showed notable increases over these years. In 2000, only 0.53% of Ferences identified as Hispanic, but by 2010 this had jumped to 1.46%, an increase of 175.47%. Similarly, the percentage of Ferences identifying as Black rose from 0.99% in 2000 to 1.67% in 2010, a 68.69% boost. There were no recorded instances of Ferences identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.98%	95.35%	-1.68%
Black	0.99%	1.67%	68.69%
Hispanic	0.53%	1.46%	175.47%
Two or More Races	1.12%	1.11%	-0.89%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%