Head to head · Boys' names
Hunter vs Jordan
#130 vs #131 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Hunter is a whisker ahead (#130 vs #131 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Hunter and Jordan each lead 2 measures of 6.
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, Jordan #491 — Jordan higher
- 1890s: Hunter #680, Jordan #618 — Jordan higher
- 1900s: Hunter #728, Jordan #741 — Hunter higher
- 1910s: Hunter #829, Jordan #872 — Hunter higher
- 1920s: Hunter #908, Jordan #707 — Jordan higher
- 1930s: Hunter #1059, Jordan #691 — Jordan higher
- 1940s: Hunter #992, Jordan #784 — Jordan higher
- 1950s: Hunter #979, Jordan #699 — Jordan higher
- 1960s: Hunter #861, Jordan #574 — Jordan higher
- 1970s: Hunter #765, Jordan #372 — Jordan higher
- 1980s: Hunter #374, Jordan #75 — Jordan higher
- 1990s: Hunter #90, Jordan #29 — Jordan higher
- 2000s: Hunter #47, Jordan #42 — Jordan higher
- 2010s: Hunter #50, Jordan #61 — Hunter higher
- 2020s: Hunter #105, Jordan #99 — Jordan higher
Jordan stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Jordan took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hunter | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #666 | #491 |
| 1890s | #680 | #618 |
| 1900s | #728 | #741 |
| 1910s | #829 | #872 |
| 1920s | #908 | #707 |
| 1930s | #1059 | #691 |
| 1940s | #992 | #784 |
| 1950s | #979 | #699 |
| 1960s | #861 | #574 |
| 1970s | #765 | #372 |
| 1980s | #374 | #75 |
| 1990s | #90 | #29 |
| 2000s | #47 | #42 |
| 2010s | #50 | #61 |
| 2020s | #105 | #99 |
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
Jordan
Not charting outside the US.
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.
Jordan
descending, flowing down — from the river Jordan
The Hebrew name Yarden comes from the root yarad, 'to go down' or 'descend', describing the river's fall from the northern highlands to the Dead Sea.
Yarden → Iordanes → Jordanus → Jourdain → Jordan
How it traveled
The name begins as a place: the Jordan, the river of the Hebrew Bible, whose name the Greek translators wrote as Iordanes and Latin writers as Iordanis. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries onward, Europeans returning from the Holy Land brought Jordan water back for baptisms, and children baptized with it were given the river's name — Jordanus in Latin records, Jourdain in Old French, where it also became the hero's name in a medieval French verse epic.
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.
Jordan
JOR-dan
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is unstressed and often reduced to 'dn' in fast American speech. It reads correctly on sight for almost any English speaker.
- Jordy — The most widespread short form, informal, used for both boys and girls.
- Jord — Clipped and casual, mostly among friends and siblings.
- Jordie — Same sound as Jordy with a softer spelling; used informally.
- J — Single-initial nickname, common in American school and sports settings.
Who has carried each name
Hunter
Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1937) — Invented gonzo journalism
Jordan
Jordan Peele (b. 1979) — Get Out's Oscar-winning horror auteur
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 charts abroad tooHunter is on the national lists of Scotland and England & Wales
Choose Jordan if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Jordan from 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.
Jordan
Strengths
- One spelling that English speakers read and write correctly on first sight, with no pronunciation coaching required.
- Works in French, Italian, Spanish, German and Hebrew with only small adjustments — a rare thing in a name this short.
- Documented in European records since the era of the crusades, so it has outlasted many complete turns of fashion.
To consider
- It reads as unisex in the United States, with most Jordans being boys and a real minority girls. On paper — a class list, an application — the name alone will not tell anyone which, which some families like and others do not.
- Jordan is also a very common surname and a country, so pairing it with another surname-style last name can produce a full name that sounds like two last names.
- Variant spellings such as Jordyn and Jordon are in circulation, so expect occasional 'how do you spell it' even though your spelling is the standard one.
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 Hunter and Jordan 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 Hunter and Jordan?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- Six-letter names in current use
- all guides
Every list here names both Hunter and Jordan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hunter or Jordan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hunter or Jordan?
- Hunter, in 2025: Hunter ranked #130 with 2,761 babies; Jordan ranked #131 with 2,732 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hunter or Jordan?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Hunter moved down 62 places; Jordan moved down 49 places.
- Which is the older name, Hunter or Jordan?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Hunter and Jordan?
- About 256,000 people named Hunter are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 388,000 people named Jordan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hunters or Jordans in the classroom?
- Hunter will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jordan 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Hunter, Jordan and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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