Head to head · Boys' names
Hudson vs Samuel
#17 vs #18 in 2025
Hudson is a whisker ahead (#17 vs #18 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Hudson is climbing the charts fast, Samuel is back after a long quiet spell.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Hudson leads 3 measures of 6; Samuel leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Hudson #813, Samuel #18 — Samuel higher
- 1890s: Hudson #861, Samuel #25 — Samuel higher
- 1900s: Hudson #944, Samuel #32 — Samuel higher
- 1910s: Hudson #1008, Samuel #37 — Samuel higher
- 1920s: Hudson #1163, Samuel #47 — Samuel higher
- 1930s: Hudson #1366, Samuel #61 — Samuel higher
- 1940s: Hudson #1477, Samuel #65 — Samuel higher
- 1950s: Hudson #1784, Samuel #74 — Samuel higher
- 1960s: Hudson #2407, Samuel #81 — Samuel higher
- 1970s: Hudson #2995, Samuel #61 — Samuel higher
- 1980s: Hudson #2036, Samuel #52 — Samuel higher
- 1990s: Hudson #1022, Samuel #34 — Samuel higher
- 2000s: Hudson #336, Samuel #25 — Samuel higher
- 2010s: Hudson #81, Samuel #23 — Samuel higher
- 2020s: Hudson #27, Samuel #20 — Samuel higher
Samuel stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hudson | Samuel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #813 | #18 |
| 1890s | #861 | #25 |
| 1900s | #944 | #32 |
| 1910s | #1008 | #37 |
| 1920s | #1163 | #47 |
| 1930s | #1366 | #61 |
| 1940s | #1477 | #65 |
| 1950s | #1784 | #74 |
| 1960s | #2407 | #81 |
| 1970s | #2995 | #61 |
| 1980s | #2036 | #52 |
| 1990s | #1022 | #34 |
| 2000s | #336 | #25 |
| 2010s | #81 | #23 |
| 2020s | #27 | #20 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Hudson
- Canada#27
- England & Wales#42
- Scotland#46
Samuel
- Canada#24
- England & Wales#60
- Scotland#65
- France#70
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Hudson
"son of Hudd" — Hudd being a medieval English pet name
The surname itself is straightforward: Hudd plus -son. What Hudd stood for is where scholars part ways. The usual reading takes it as a medieval short form of Hugh, from a Germanic root meaning "heart, mind, spirit." A second reading links Hudd to Richard, which produced its own crop of medieval pet forms. Both are seriously held, and the surname was likely formed more than once in different parts of England.
Hugh → Hudd → Hudson
How it traveled
The name grew out of medieval England, where a man known as Hudd's son eventually became simply Hudson, and the label stuck to the family line. English speakers then carried it across the Atlantic, where it attached itself to a river, a bay and a stretch of New York countryside — and, in the twentieth century, to an American car marque.
Samuel
name of God — or, in the other reading, God has heard
Hebrew Shemu'el is read two ways: shem, name, with el, God, giving the name of God; or a form of shama, to hear, giving God has heard. The narrative in First Samuel attaches a third explanation, from a verb meaning to ask, which does not fit the letters. Two of the three are serious and the third is famous.
Shemu'el → Samouel → Samuel
How it traveled
Samuel is the hinge of the story: the last of the judges and the man who anoints the first two kings, first Saul and then, when Saul fails, David. He is also the one who argues against having a king at all, warns the people exactly what a monarchy will cost them, and is overruled.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Hudson
HUD-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The vowel is the one in "mud." It sounds the same in American, British, Canadian and Australian English, and the spelling gives no one trouble.
- Hud — The main short form in English, informal, used within families and among friends.
- Huds — Casual and mostly spoken rather than written; common among schoolmates and on sports teams.
- Huddy — A diminutive used with small children; tends to be dropped as the child gets older.
Samuel
SAM-yoo-ul
Three syllables, stress on the first. Spanish and French put the weight at the end, sah-MWEL. Hebrew Shmuel has two syllables and no vowel at all in the first, which English cannot manage.
- Sam — The default, used by most Samuels and serving either child; also a full name in its own right.
- Sammy — The warmer form, often the family version rather than the public one.
- Sami — The spelling used in Arabic-speaking and European families; a name of its own there.
Who has carried each name
Hudson
No documented entry for Hudson yet.
Samuel
Samuel L. Jackson (b. 1948) — The highest-grossing actor in film history
Samuel Morse (b. 1791) — Invented Morse code
Samuel Beckett (b. 1906) — Nobel laureate who wrote Waiting for Godot
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hudson if you want…
- a name on the way upup 26 places on the charts in five years
- a name that feels very nowHudson is climbing the charts fast
Choose Samuel if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooSamuel is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales, Scotland and France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 70% for Hudson
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Hudson
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to nearly everyone in the English-speaking world through the river, the bay and the valley, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Pronunciation is fixed and obvious from the page — no regional variants, no first-day-of-school negotiation.
- It also charts in Canada, England & Wales and Scotland, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- This name's rise is recent and steep. Nearly everyone carrying it is a child, so for now it reads distinctly young — and it will always mark the era your child was born in.
- It sits in a crowded family of surname names ending in -son and -on. Expect it to be grouped, and occasionally confused, with several similar-sounding classmates.
- The geographic pull is strong: for many Americans the first association is the river or the valley rather than a person. That fades once they meet a Hudson, but it is the first thought.
Samuel
Strengths
- Spelled identically in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.
- Three thousand years of continuous documented use.
- Sam is instantly usable, serves either child, and is a full name on its own.
To consider
- It is very widely used and has been for most of the last two decades.
- Sam is shared with Samantha, Samson and Sampson, so it identifies nothing.
- The explanation the Bible itself gives for the name does not fit the name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Hudson
70%chance Hudson feels dated by 2040
Hudson is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Samuel
12%chance Samuel feels dated by 2040
Samuel has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Hudson and Samuel in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Hudson and Samuel?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- all guides
Every list here names both Hudson and Samuel — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hudson or Samuel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hudson or Samuel?
- Hudson, in 2025: Hudson ranked #17 with 8,583 babies; Samuel ranked #18 with 8,334 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hudson or Samuel?
- Hudson. Over the last five years Hudson moved up 26 places; Samuel moved up 7 places.
- Which is the older name, Hudson or Samuel?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Hudson and Samuel?
- About 112,000 people named Hudson are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 632,000 people named Samuel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hudsons or Samuels in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Hudson. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Samuel.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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