Head to head · Boys' names
Hudson vs Sebastian
#17 vs #16 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Sebastian is a whisker ahead (#16 vs #17 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Sebastian leads 4 measures of 6; Hudson leads 2.
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, Sebastian #793 — Sebastian higher
- 1890s: Hudson #861, Sebastian #891 — Hudson higher
- 1900s: Hudson #944, Sebastian #853 — Sebastian higher
- 1910s: Hudson #1008, Sebastian #581 — Sebastian higher
- 1920s: Hudson #1163, Sebastian #561 — Sebastian higher
- 1930s: Hudson #1366, Sebastian #698 — Sebastian higher
- 1940s: Hudson #1477, Sebastian #877 — Sebastian higher
- 1950s: Hudson #1784, Sebastian #1053 — Sebastian higher
- 1960s: Hudson #2407, Sebastian #730 — Sebastian higher
- 1970s: Hudson #2995, Sebastian #701 — Sebastian higher
- 1980s: Hudson #2036, Sebastian #543 — Sebastian higher
- 1990s: Hudson #1022, Sebastian #220 — Sebastian higher
- 2000s: Hudson #336, Sebastian #81 — Sebastian higher
- 2010s: Hudson #81, Sebastian #40 — Sebastian higher
- 2020s: Hudson #27, Sebastian #16 — Sebastian higher
Sebastian stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Sebastian has held the lead since the 1900s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hudson | Sebastian |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #813 | #793 |
| 1890s | #861 | #891 |
| 1900s | #944 | #853 |
| 1910s | #1008 | #581 |
| 1920s | #1163 | #561 |
| 1930s | #1366 | #698 |
| 1940s | #1477 | #877 |
| 1950s | #1784 | #1053 |
| 1960s | #2407 | #730 |
| 1970s | #2995 | #701 |
| 1980s | #2036 | #543 |
| 1990s | #1022 | #220 |
| 2000s | #336 | #81 |
| 2010s | #81 | #40 |
| 2020s | #27 | #16 |
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
Sebastian
- England & Wales#45
- Canada#78
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.
Sebastian
From Sebaste — ultimately "venerable, revered"
Latin Sebastianus meant "man from Sebaste," a city name taken from Greek sebastos, "venerable, revered" — the Greek equivalent of the imperial title Augustus. So the meaning arrives in two steps: a place first, and the honorific behind the place.
Sebastos → Sebaste → Sebastianus → Sebastian → Sebastián
How it traveled
The root is Greek sebastos, "revered," which gave its name to more than one city called Sebaste or Sebasteia in the Roman east. From that came the Latin Sebastianus, "of Sebaste," and the name attached itself firmly to a Christian martyr venerated at Rome in the third century, whose cult carried it into every Catholic language in Europe.
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.
Sebastian
suh-BAS-chun
Also said suh-BAS-tee-un, with the third syllable kept separate; both are ordinary in American English. The Spanish Sebastián shifts the stress to the end: seh-bahs-TYAHN.
- Seb — The standard English short form, informal and used from childhood onward; common in Britain as well as the US.
- Bastian — Clipped from the back of the name; also registered as a given name in its own right, particularly in German-speaking countries.
- Baz — Informal British-influenced short form, less common in the US than Seb.
- Seba — Everyday short form among Spanish speakers, drawn from Sebastián.
- Also Basti, Sebby.
Who has carried each name
Hudson
No documented entry for Hudson yet.
Sebastian
Sebastian Vettel (b. 1987) — Four-time Formula 1 world champion
Sebastian Stan (b. 1982) — Marvel's Winter Soldier
Sebastian Coe (b. 1956) — Double Olympic champion who now leads world athletics
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 with fewer syllablesHudson is 2 syllables to Sebastian's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooHudson is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordHudson was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Sebastian if you want…
- a name with more sound in itSebastian runs 3 syllables, Hudson 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Seb, Bastian and Baz
- a newer arrivalSebastian entered the US charts in 1881
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.
Sebastian
Strengths
- Spelled the same in English, German and Polish, and recognizable at sight in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.
- Long-established short forms — Seb, Bastian, Seba — so nothing has to be invented.
- A documented record stretching back to Roman antiquity, with no gap in use since.
To consider
- This one is climbing quickly, and its bearers cluster in a narrow, recent age band — a Sebastian today is likely to meet others close to his own age.
- Sebastián, Sébastien and Sebastien all exist, so expect occasional accent marks added or an extra check on the spelling.
- For a generation of children the first Sebastian they meet is the singing crab in Disney's The Little Mermaid; the association tends to fade with age.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Sebastian 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 Sebastian?
Put both to the vote.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Hudson and Sebastian — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hudson or Sebastian — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hudson or Sebastian?
- Sebastian, in 2025: Sebastian ranked #16 with 8,605 babies; Hudson ranked #17 with 8,583 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hudson or Sebastian?
- Hudson. Over the last five years Hudson moved up 26 places; Sebastian moved up 3 places.
- Which is the older name, Hudson or Sebastian?
- Hudson was already in use when US records began in 1880; Sebastian entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Hudson is the older name.
- How many people are named Hudson and Sebastian?
- About 112,000 people named Hudson are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 212,000 people named Sebastian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hudsons or Sebastians in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Hudson. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Sebastian.
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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