Ferneyhough family history
Variant spellings
The spelling of a name in old records tells you about the clerk as much as the family. A single family can appear under three or four spellings in one lifetime, so this site treats all of them as one study. It uses Ferneyhough as its main spelling, because that is the most common of the spellings in Forebears' worldwide estimates (about 811 people, against about 639 for Fernihough and 621 for Fernyhough) and the spelling of the site owner's family. Every other spelling is welcome and listed here.
| Spelling | Notes | Approx. bearers worldwide (Forebears) | Where common |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferneyhough | Main spelling on this site: the most common spelling worldwide on Forebears' estimates and the owner's family spelling. Common in Staffordshire, Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire lines | ~811 | England 445; Canada 202; USA 110; 40% of English bearers in Staffordshire |
| Fernihough | Widespread in the Ipstones tree cluster | ~639 | England 295 (Worcestershire 23%, Derbyshire 16%, Staffordshire 13%) |
| Fernyhough | The spelling used in the earliest reported records (1332) and by the Guild's registered study | ~621 | England 417 (49% of English bearers in Staffordshire); New Zealand 60; USA 38; Australia 25 |
| Fearnehough | Found further north and east | ~283 | England 218; USA 46; South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside ~22% each |
| Fearneyhough | Mostly American | ~153 | USA 148; England 3 |
| Fernehough | Very rare | ~11 | England (Greater Manchester 83%) |
| Fearnyhough | Very rare | ~1 | England (Merseyside) |
| Fernihaugh | Listed by the Guild; no modern count found | - | - |
| Fearnyough, Fernihalgh and other forms | Guild lists "many deviants involving vowel changes" | - | - |
Earliest records seen by spelling
(See the early records page for sources.)
- Fernihaleugh / Fernyhough: 1327 and 1332, Endon.
- Fernyhalgh: 1383 (Richard de la Fernyhalgh).
- Fearnough: 1567 (Randle, christened at Chester).
- Fernyhoughe: 1584 (Alicia, married at Kingsley).
- Ferneyhough: 1613 (Richard, christened at Kingsley).
- Fernihough: 1618 (William, christened at Norton in the Moors); 1635 (John, married at Leek).
- Fearnehough: 1720 (Thomas, married at Chester).
England and Wales in 1881
Exact-spelling counts from the FamilySearch 1881 census index: Fernyhough 241, Ferneyhough 219, Fernihough 144, Fearnehough 83, Fernehough 20, Fearnyhough 13, Fearneyhough 7, Fearnyough 2, Fernihaugh 0 - 729 people in all. County detail is on the distribution page.
Using this table
Counts are modelled estimates and differ from other sources (for example the Guild quotes 2002 ONS figures of Fernyhough 501, Ferneyhough 482, Fernihough 238). Treat all numbers as indicative.
If your family spells the name differently, please get in touch - we will add it.