Head to head · Boys' names
Hunter vs Jasper
#130 vs #129 in 2025
Jasper is a whisker ahead (#129 vs #130 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jasper is holding its place on the charts, Hunter is stepping back from its peak.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Jasper leads 3 measures of 6; Hunter 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: Hunter #666, Jasper #165 — Jasper higher
- 1890s: Hunter #680, Jasper #197 — Jasper higher
- 1900s: Hunter #728, Jasper #233 — Jasper higher
- 1910s: Hunter #829, Jasper #257 — Jasper higher
- 1920s: Hunter #908, Jasper #292 — Jasper higher
- 1930s: Hunter #1059, Jasper #360 — Jasper higher
- 1940s: Hunter #992, Jasper #427 — Jasper higher
- 1950s: Hunter #979, Jasper #529 — Jasper higher
- 1960s: Hunter #861, Jasper #669 — Jasper higher
- 1970s: Hunter #765, Jasper #761 — Jasper higher
- 1980s: Hunter #374, Jasper #661 — Hunter higher
- 1990s: Hunter #90, Jasper #656 — Hunter higher
- 2000s: Hunter #47, Jasper #507 — Hunter higher
- 2010s: Hunter #50, Jasper #219 — Hunter higher
- 2020s: Hunter #105, Jasper #130 — Hunter higher
Jasper stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Hunter has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hunter | Jasper |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #666 | #165 |
| 1890s | #680 | #197 |
| 1900s | #728 | #233 |
| 1910s | #829 | #257 |
| 1920s | #908 | #292 |
| 1930s | #1059 | #360 |
| 1940s | #992 | #427 |
| 1950s | #979 | #529 |
| 1960s | #861 | #669 |
| 1970s | #765 | #761 |
| 1980s | #374 | #661 |
| 1990s | #90 | #656 |
| 2000s | #47 | #507 |
| 2010s | #50 | #219 |
| 2020s | #105 | #130 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Hunter
- Scotland#54
- England & Wales#78
Jasper
- England & Wales#71
- Canada#80
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Hunter
one who hunts
hunta (Old English) → hunte (Middle English) → Hunter (English and Scottish surname) → Hunter (given name)
How it traveled
The word behind it is Old English hunta, a hunter, which became the Middle English occupational byname hunte and then the hereditary surname Hunter across England and Scotland; the Hunters of Hunterston in Ayrshire are among the long-recorded Scottish families to carry it. Like many trade surnames, it moved into given-name use in the United States, where the habit of turning family names into first names has run strong for generations.
Jasper
treasure-bearer, treasurer
The leading reading traces Caspar/Jasper to an Old Persian word for a treasurer or treasure-bringer — fitting for a wise man arriving with gifts. A second thread points to the gemstone jasper, which came into Greek as iaspis from a Semitic source and has its own separate history; the two have shared a spelling long enough that many families take the stone as the meaning.
Gaspar → Caspar → Jaspar → Jasper
How it traveled
The three visitors in the Gospel of Matthew are unnamed; the names Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar were attached to them in Latin and Greek church tradition in the early medieval centuries, and from there Caspar spread across Europe as a Christian given name. English speakers turned the hard C into a J, producing Jaspar and then Jasper, in use in England from the fifteenth century onward.
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
Hunter
HUN-ter
Stress on the first syllable. American English sounds the final r; in Scotland and much of England it lands closer to HUN-tuh, which is the same name, not a different one.
- Hunt — The standard informal short form; also stands on its own as a surname and, occasionally, a given name.
- H — Initial-only nickname, used among friends and teammates rather than at home.
- Hunty — Family-level diminutive, mostly for small children and rarely used past childhood.
Jasper
JAS-per
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with the stone. Speakers of Spanish, French and Polish will reach for their own version — Gaspar, Gaspard, Kacper — but the English pronunciation gives almost no one trouble.
- Jazz — The most common informal short form in English; also stands alone as a nickname unrelated to the name.
- Jas — Clipped and casual, used mostly within families and among friends.
- Jasp — A blunt one-syllable form heard among schoolmates rather than adults.
- Casper — Not a shortening but the continental form of the same name; occasionally used as an affectionate alternative.
Who has carried each name
Hunter
Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1937) — Invented gonzo journalism
Jasper
Jasper Johns (b. 1930) — Painted the American flag into art history
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 Hunter if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsHunter is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowHunter is stepping back from its peak
Choose Jasper if you want…
- a name on the way upup 9 places on the charts in five years
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 78% for Hunter
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
Hunter
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are one and the same — it is an ordinary English word, so nobody has to ask twice or spell it out on the phone.
- One clear short form, Hunt, plus the option of using the full name unaltered from nursery through a working life.
- Charts in Scotland and in England and Wales as well as the United States, so it travels across the English-speaking world without translation.
To consider
- It is a common noun before it is a name. The hunting reference is right there in plain sight, which some families like and others would rather not hand to a child by default.
- This spelling is recorded for girls, but only a small fraction of Hunters are girls. A girl named Hunter will regularly be assumed male on forms and rosters, and will spend some energy correcting it.
- The big wave has passed, so most people named Hunter are adults rather than classmates. A child today is unlikely to share it with anyone in the room — appealing to some parents, less so to others.
Jasper
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and known to nearly every English speaker, so it survives phone calls and roll call without correction.
- Has a documented line back to medieval England and, through Caspar, to early church tradition — an unbroken record rather than a recent coinage.
- Exists in six or more European languages as Gaspar, Gaspard, Kaspar, Kacper, so relatives abroad have a native form to use.
To consider
- Its wave is very recent, so most people carrying the name right now are children. Anyone expecting Jasper to read as an established grown-up name may need to wait for this generation to grow into it.
- It doubles as a stone, a mountain park and a handful of American towns. That is charming to some ears and slightly place-name-ish to others.
- Casper — the continental spelling, and the cartoon ghost — is close enough that some people will hear or write it that way.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Hunter
78%chance Hunter feels dated by 2040
Hunter is coming down from a big peak (#35 in 2000). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Jasper
40%chance Jasper feels dated by 2040
Jasper sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Hunter and Jasper in full.
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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
Every list here names both Hunter and Jasper — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hunter or Jasper — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hunter or Jasper?
- Jasper, in 2025: Jasper ranked #129 with 2,804 babies; Hunter ranked #130 with 2,761 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hunter or Jasper?
- Jasper. Over the last five years Hunter moved down 62 places; Jasper moved up 9 places.
- Which is the older name, Hunter or Jasper?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Hunter and Jasper?
- About 256,000 people named Hunter are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 49,000 people named Jasper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hunters or Jaspers in the classroom?
- Hunter will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jasper will almost certainly be the only one in school.
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
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