Fun Facts About the Name Hunter
- More than 276 thousand babies named Hunter: U.S. records list 276,535 babies given the name Hunter from 1880 through 2025. Even 14,379 girls received the name Hunter - about 1 girl for every 18 boys.
What Does the Name Hunter Mean?
Hunter is an English occupational name meaning "one who hunts" or "huntsman." It comes from Middle English hunter(e), an agent noun built from the verb hunten ("to hunt") plus the suffix -er, which marks a person who performs an action. The verb descends from Old English huntian, whose deeper Germanic origins are not securely explained.
The literal sense is a person who hunts game, whether for food or as a paid occupation - a huntsman attached to a household or estate. The name is English in language of origin, though as a surname and later a given name it is used throughout the English-speaking world, including Scotland, where it is also long established.
Hunter Name History & Origins
Hunter first appears as a surname. Occupational surnames of this kind became hereditary in England during the later Middle Ages, when a man known as le hunter - the hunter - passed the label to his children. In Scotland the surname is also old, and it is the name of a Scottish clan whose traditional seat, Hunterston, lies in North Ayrshire. Clan Hunter's origin story holds that an ancestor served as huntsman to the Scottish court and was rewarded with land; that account is traditional rather than firmly documented, and the family's recorded history rests mainly on charters and land records from the medieval and later periods.
Hunter entered use as a first name through the wider fashion, growing in the 19th century, of turning surnames into given names. It was established as a masculine given name in the United States and other English-speaking countries well before it spread to girls in the late 20th century. Its meaning has stayed close to the original occupation; no separate religious or mythological derivation is attached to it.
Occasional literary and popular-culture uses of the name exist, but they are later than its ordinary use as a surname and given name and did not create it.
How Popular is the Name Hunter?
Hunter recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2000. Hunter entered the top 100 U.S. boy names in 1993.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #842 | 323 | 0.0201% |
| 2024 | #881 | 306 | 0.0190% |
| 2023 | #806 | 347 | 0.0217% |
| 2022 | #781 | 364 | 0.0222% |
| 2021 | #818 | 340 | 0.0207% |
| 2020 | #830 | 329 | 0.0204% |
| 2019 | #864 | 310 | 0.0185% |
| 2018 | #825 | 329 | 0.0193% |
| 2017 | #738 | 383 | 0.0222% |
| 2016 | #842 | 338 | 0.0191% |
| 2015 | #793 | 356 | 0.0199% |
| 2014 | #772 | 363 | 0.0203% |
| 2013 | #931 | 273 | 0.0156% |
| 2012 | #1,182 | 208 | 0.0118% |
| 2011 | #1,219 | 197 | 0.0112% |
| 2010 | #1,321 | 178 | 0.0100% |
| 2009 | #1,301 | 186 | 0.0101% |
| 2008 | #1,258 | 199 | 0.0105% |
| 2007 | #1,195 | 212 | 0.0110% |
| 2006 | #1,052 | 244 | 0.0128% |
| 2005 | #1,028 | 236 | 0.0128% |
| 2004 | #742 | 354 | 0.0193% |
| 2003 | #767 | 324 | 0.0177% |
| 2002 | #561 | 472 | 0.0263% |
| 2001 | #441 | 628 | 0.0349% |
| 2000 | #402 | 714 | 0.0393% |
| 1999 | #355 | 844 | 0.0476% |
| 1998 | #305 | 997 | 0.0564% |
| 1997 | #371 | 728 | 0.0418% |
| 1996 | #354 | 782 | 0.0446% |
| 1995 | #342 | 774 | 0.0440% |
| 1994 | #327 | 822 | 0.0460% |
| 1993 | #519 | 471 | 0.0260% |
| 1992 | #1,384 | 119 | 0.0065% |
| 1991 | #2,949 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1990 | #3,039 | 37 | 0.0019% |
| 1989 | #3,509 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 1988 | #2,893 | 36 | 0.0020% |
| 1987 | #5,401 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1986 | #3,390 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 1985 | #4,028 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 1984 | #4,564 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 1983 | #4,748 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 1982 | #9,625 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1981 | #5,368 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1980 | #6,985 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1979 | #6,362 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1978 | #6,099 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1977 | #6,034 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1976 | #5,344 | 11 | 0.0008% |
| 1973 | #6,915 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1966 | #6,941 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1957 | #6,445 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1921 | #5,458 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1902 | #1,688 | 6 | 0.0023% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #130 | 2,761 | 0.1616% |
| 2024 | #128 | 2,831 | 0.1650% |
| 2023 | #115 | 3,122 | 0.1827% |
| 2022 | #101 | 3,597 | 0.2062% |
| 2021 | #86 | 4,201 | 0.2403% |
| 2020 | #69 | 4,780 | 0.2771% |
| 2019 | #66 | 5,396 | 0.3009% |
| 2018 | #56 | 6,114 | 0.3368% |
| 2017 | #53 | 6,754 | 0.3650% |
| 2016 | #45 | 7,675 | 0.4045% |
| 2015 | #41 | 8,361 | 0.4363% |
| 2014 | #40 | 8,838 | 0.4602% |
| 2013 | #36 | 8,985 | 0.4751% |
| 2012 | #45 | 8,050 | 0.4244% |
| 2011 | #55 | 7,379 | 0.3886% |
| 2010 | #58 | 7,333 | 0.3822% |
| 2009 | #56 | 7,748 | 0.3907% |
| 2008 | #54 | 8,045 | 0.3944% |
| 2007 | #57 | 8,218 | 0.3960% |
| 2006 | #54 | 8,574 | 0.4172% |
| 2005 | #53 | 8,512 | 0.4262% |
| 2004 | #49 | 8,902 | 0.4485% |
| 2003 | #41 | 9,900 | 0.5012% |
| 2002 | #38 | 11,085 | 0.5710% |
| 2001 | #36 | 11,336 | 0.5835% |
| 2000 | #35 | 12,538 | 0.6384% |
| 1999 | #36 | 11,485 | 0.5981% |
| 1998 | #36 | 11,078 | 0.5796% |
| 1997 | #44 | 8,405 | 0.4459% |
| 1996 | #47 | 7,603 | 0.4014% |
| 1995 | #53 | 6,715 | 0.3527% |
| 1994 | #67 | 5,585 | 0.2891% |
| 1993 | #97 | 3,792 | 0.1933% |
| 1992 | #135 | 2,540 | 0.1272% |
| 1991 | #167 | 1,929 | 0.0955% |
| 1990 | #219 | 1,391 | 0.0677% |
| 1989 | #226 | 1,206 | 0.0603% |
| 1988 | #243 | 980 | 0.0512% |
| 1987 | #271 | 808 | 0.0433% |
| 1986 | #306 | 672 | 0.0365% |
| 1985 | #336 | 567 | 0.0307% |
| 1984 | #380 | 460 | 0.0255% |
| 1983 | #437 | 357 | 0.0199% |
| 1982 | #474 | 317 | 0.0175% |
| 1981 | #518 | 266 | 0.0148% |
| 1980 | #548 | 243 | 0.0136% |
| 1979 | #611 | 196 | 0.0114% |
| 1978 | #696 | 145 | 0.0088% |
| 1977 | #671 | 159 | 0.0097% |
| 1976 | #732 | 130 | 0.0083% |
| 1975 | #797 | 109 | 0.0070% |
| 1974 | #839 | 92 | 0.0059% |
| 1973 | #849 | 87 | 0.0056% |
| 1972 | #880 | 84 | 0.0052% |
| 1971 | #808 | 100 | 0.0057% |
| 1970 | #779 | 112 | 0.0060% |
| 1969 | #778 | 98 | 0.0055% |
| 1968 | #772 | 93 | 0.0054% |
| 1967 | #812 | 80 | 0.0046% |
| 1966 | #892 | 66 | 0.0037% |
| 1965 | #906 | 67 | 0.0036% |
| 1964 | #876 | 76 | 0.0038% |
| 1963 | #909 | 68 | 0.0033% |
| 1962 | #875 | 76 | 0.0037% |
| 1961 | #913 | 70 | 0.0033% |
| 1960 | #906 | 70 | 0.0033% |
| 1959 | #946 | 66 | 0.0031% |
| 1958 | #961 | 63 | 0.0030% |
| 1957 | #893 | 72 | 0.0033% |
| 1956 | #949 | 62 | 0.0029% |
| 1955 | #1,019 | 55 | 0.0027% |
| 1954 | #898 | 68 | 0.0033% |
| 1953 | #1,157 | 41 | 0.0021% |
| 1952 | #1,006 | 51 | 0.0026% |
| 1951 | #1,009 | 49 | 0.0026% |
| 1950 | #994 | 49 | 0.0027% |
| 1949 | #978 | 51 | 0.0029% |
| 1948 | #1,011 | 49 | 0.0028% |
| 1947 | #839 | 68 | 0.0037% |
| 1946 | #851 | 60 | 0.0037% |
| 1945 | #922 | 49 | 0.0036% |
| 1944 | #1,025 | 41 | 0.0030% |
| 1943 | #1,042 | 42 | 0.0029% |
| 1942 | #1,068 | 41 | 0.0030% |
| 1941 | #1,162 | 33 | 0.0027% |
| 1940 | #1,100 | 36 | 0.0031% |
| 1939 | #1,021 | 39 | 0.0035% |
| 1938 | #1,157 | 32 | 0.0029% |
| 1937 | #1,106 | 35 | 0.0033% |
| 1936 | #1,435 | 22 | 0.0021% |
| 1935 | #959 | 44 | 0.0042% |
| 1934 | #947 | 45 | 0.0044% |
| 1933 | #1,134 | 34 | 0.0034% |
| 1932 | #898 | 52 | 0.0050% |
| 1931 | #915 | 50 | 0.0048% |
| 1930 | #1,099 | 40 | 0.0036% |
| 1929 | #842 | 61 | 0.0057% |
| 1928 | #907 | 55 | 0.0050% |
| 1927 | #917 | 56 | 0.0050% |
| 1926 | #864 | 60 | 0.0054% |
| 1925 | #1,212 | 35 | 0.0031% |
| 1924 | #828 | 67 | 0.0059% |
| 1923 | #811 | 69 | 0.0063% |
| 1922 | #931 | 56 | 0.0051% |
| 1921 | #1,015 | 48 | 0.0044% |
| 1920 | #808 | 69 | 0.0065% |
| 1919 | #904 | 55 | 0.0056% |
| 1918 | #793 | 68 | 0.0067% |
| 1917 | #826 | 60 | 0.0065% |
| 1916 | #930 | 47 | 0.0053% |
| 1915 | #873 | 50 | 0.0059% |
| 1914 | #828 | 42 | 0.0064% |
| 1913 | #793 | 36 | 0.0070% |
| 1912 | #845 | 28 | 0.0065% |
| 1911 | #807 | 17 | 0.0075% |
| 1910 | #768 | 16 | 0.0082% |
| 1909 | #818 | 13 | 0.0079% |
| 1908 | #697 | 15 | 0.0097% |
| 1907 | #758 | 13 | 0.0089% |
| 1906 | #693 | 13 | 0.0098% |
| 1905 | #650 | 14 | 0.0106% |
| 1904 | #550 | 17 | 0.0133% |
| 1903 | #1,206 | 5 | 0.0042% |
| 1902 | #568 | 15 | 0.0122% |
| 1901 | #809 | 8 | 0.0075% |
| 1900 | #761 | 12 | 0.0080% |
| 1899 | #680 | 10 | 0.0094% |
| 1898 | #719 | 10 | 0.0082% |
| 1897 | #824 | 8 | 0.0071% |
| 1896 | #543 | 15 | 0.0125% |
| 1895 | #931 | 7 | 0.0060% |
| 1894 | #761 | 9 | 0.0078% |
| 1893 | #590 | 12 | 0.0107% |
| 1892 | #658 | 11 | 0.0090% |
| 1891 | #575 | 11 | 0.0109% |
| 1890 | #782 | 8 | 0.0072% |
| 1889 | #604 | 11 | 0.0099% |
| 1888 | #493 | 16 | 0.0132% |
| 1886 | #804 | 7 | 0.0063% |
| 1885 | #621 | 10 | 0.0093% |
| 1884 | #907 | 6 | 0.0052% |
| 1883 | #841 | 6 | 0.0057% |
| 1882 | #623 | 10 | 0.0088% |
| 1881 | #826 | 6 | 0.0060% |
| 1880 | #545 | 12 | 0.0109% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
