Stetson
Feminine · English roots
Stetson is given to boys far more often — 15,604 boys against 121 girls since 1880. See Stetson as a boy name
Stetson entered the US charts in 2017 and is at its record high, #3903 in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Stetson?
Stetson first appears in US birth records in 2017 — 8 years ago. Stetson is overwhelmingly a brand-new baby name right now — most Stetsons are still in diapers. About 100 people named Stetson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Stetson most popular?
Stetson peaked in 2025, reaching #3903 nationally. Today it ranks #3903, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Stetson appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Stetson (English surname) to Stetson
The story of Stetson
Stetson began as an English surname and crossed the Atlantic early, taking root in colonial New England, where Stetson families are recorded in Massachusetts from the seventeenth century onward. Its leap into common speech came through John Batterson Stetson, whose Philadelphia hat company made the broad-brimmed western hat that carried his surname into the language as a plain noun. American parents have long borrowed surnames for first names, and this one arrived in that stream with an unusual advantage: nearly everyone already knew how to spell it. Its use as a given name is recent and still building, which is why nearly all the Stetsons alive are young.
Meaningscholars disagree
An English surname of uncertain root, later a hat
Two readings compete for the surname. One traces it to Stidston in Devon, a place name built from an Old English personal name plus tun, a farmstead or settlement. The other groups it with Stedman, from Old English words for a horse-keeper or a settled man. Neither has won. What is not in doubt is the later layer of meaning: since the nineteenth century the word has also meant the hat.
How the name formed
- StetsonEnglish surname
- Stetsonthe hat, from 1865
- StetsonAmerican given name
Pronouncing Stetson
STET-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The second reduces to a soft -sun, the way it does in Nelson or Watson. There is only one pronunciation in circulation.
Nicknames for Stetson
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2017
- Most girls named
- 202537 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3903reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +76.2%37 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Stetson in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Stetsons among us
people named Stetson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 43,440 born in 2025 was named Stetson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Saran test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Stetson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Saran climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Saran's path sketches the road Stetson is walking now.
Stetson 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Stetson is headed
Stetson is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 138% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Stetson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Stetson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
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Stetson
Feminine · English roots · #3903 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Stetsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Stetson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Stetson in 2025?
- Stetson ranks #3903 among US girl names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Stetson?
- About 1 in every 43,440 US girls born in 2025 was named Stetson — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Stetson with classmates?
- Stetson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Stetson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kay#3903 · Sonja#3903 · Truth#3903 · Gisela#3903 · Kaylene#3903 · Bronwyn#3903 · Cristal#3903 · Georgianna#3903
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Stetson? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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