see also Faris, Farris

Origins

The table below shows that in 1901 about 60% of the Ferris in the UK lived in England. The English surname Ferris is said to be a variant of the name Ferrers and of Norman descent [The Norman People, Henry S King and Co., London, 1874]. Accordingly the English Ferris are not expected to have ancestors in common with any Fergus(s)on. The focus hereafter is on the Scottish and Irish Ferris as their names are linked to the Fergus(s)on.

1901 Census
Surname	England	Ireland	Scotland	Wales	Total
Ferris	3150	1585	388	195	5318
Ferries	106	8	338	15	467
Ferriss	132	24	3	3	162
Ferres	61	22	24	0	107
Ferrers	17	0	4	3	24
Feris	16	3	0	0	19
Feriss	0	0	0	0	0

Ferris Distribution In Ireland

Griffith's Valuation is a property survey that was conducted in Ireland between 1847 and 1864. Since census records prior to 1901 do not survive for Ireland the survey is used to get an idea of how the Ferris were distributed in Ireland circa 1855. The table below compares the numbers of households to those determined from the 1901 census. The conclusion in each case is that counties Antrim and Down are where the majority of Irish Ferris households are located. The table also shows that county Kerry has a significant number of Ferris and is the only county outside the province Ulster where that is the case. In Ulster Ferris said to be a branch of the Scottish clan Ferguson formerly MacFergus and in Kerry a variant of O'Fergus. [MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland].

Griffith's Valuation			1901 Census
County	Count		County	Count
Antrim	69		Antrim	119
Down	57		Down	59
Kerry	47		Londonderry	35
Derry	31		Kerry	34
Armagh	24		Armagh	23
Fermanagh	14		Dublin	15
Mayo	11		Fermanagh	10
Tyrone	10		Tyrone	9
Wexford	9		Limerick	5
Cork	3		Cavan	4
Kildare	3		Wexford	4
Tipperary	3		Carlow	3
Dublin	2		Mayo	3
Wicklow	2		Sligo	3
Dublin city	2		Donegal	2
Cavan	1		Cork	1
Cork city	1		Galway	1
Donegal	1		Roscommon	1
Kilkenny	1		Tipperary	1
Monaghan	1		Wicklow	1
Carlow	1
Galway	1
Total	294		Total	333

• Early records of the Ferris in county Kerry can be found in Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 1999

Ferris, Ferries Distribution In Scotland

The tables below shows that when the name is spelled Ferris the most common place of birth in 1851 and 1861 Scotland is Ireland those born in Scotland show no pattern. On the other hand for the spelling Ferries most male heads of house are born in Aberdeenshire. Its interesting that there are so few spelled Ferris yet in Black in his book The Surnames of Scotland offered up that in "Aberdeenshire the name is said to be a contraction of Ferguson."

Top 4 Places of Birth of Male Heads of Households, Count
1851 Scotland Census
Ferris, 11	Ireland, 4	Fife, 3	Aberdeen, 1	Lanark, 1
Ferries, 22	Aberdeen, 11	Wigtown, 3	Ireland, 2	Other, 6
1861 Scotland Census
Ferris, 12	Ireland, 5	Lanark, 3	Aberdeen, 1	Other, 3
Ferries, 25	Aberdeen,14	Ireland, 5	Forfar, 2	Other, 4

Ferris, Ferries DNA

• The Ferris of county Kerry tested to date fall within R1b > L21 > L226 Irish III but are not a close match to any of the Fergus(s)on.
• The name Ferries in county Kerry is also traditionally a cognomen of a branch of the Moriartys. The data of McEvoy et al 2008 includes eight different Moriarty 19 marker haplotypes sampled from men living in the province of Munster. Two kits by the spelling Farris in the Ferris DNA Project match two of these at 14 of the 15 markers in common. There are some Moriarity in the Munster Irish DNA project. They are of the R1b South Irish variety and there are some Fergus(s)on of this type but nothing that would indicate they originate in county Kerry.
• None of the participants in the Ferris DNA Project match any Fergus(s)on, however there no participants spelled Ferris with Irish or Scottish ancestry and nobody at all named Ferries.
• In order to continue looking for a genetic linkage between Ferris and Fergu(s)son, DNA results are needed for the following:
  • Ferries of Aberdeenshire
  • Ferris of Belfast, Antrim or Down
  • Another Ferris of county Kerry