Sutter
Masculine · “shoemaker”
Sutter is given to both — 550 boys and 48 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Sutter is a German occupational surname for a shoemaker, and it is written into American history through a sawmill in California where gold was found in 1848.
How old is the name Sutter?
Sutter first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Sutter is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Sutter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sutter most popular?
Sutter peaked in 2019, reaching #2656 nationally. Today it ranks #3583, 927 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Where it comes from
From sutor to Sutter
The story of Sutter
Sutor was the Latin word for a stitcher and became the German Sutter and the Swiss Suter. A Swiss emigrant of that name established a settlement in the Sacramento valley, and gold was found at his sawmill in 1848 — an event that emptied his workforce and changed California. The surname is well known in America for that reason, and its use as a given name is recent.
Meaning
shoemaker, cobbler
From Middle High German suter, a shoemaker, itself from Latin sutor, one who sews; the same Latin word gives the English suture and the phrase about a cobbler sticking to his last.
How the name formed
- sutor
- Sutter
Related forms: Sutter · Suter · Souter
Pronouncing Sutter
SUT-er
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Sutter
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
- 1995
- Most boys named
- 201948 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2656reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- +3.3%31 in 2025, from 30
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.
Sutter in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sutter in German — same name
- Suter in Swiss German — spelling variant
- Souter in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Missouri.
Sutters among us
people named Sutter are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was named Sutter
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 Eutimio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sutter's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Eutimio climbed just as high around 1941, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Eutimio's path sketches the road Sutter is walking now.
Sutter 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 Sutter is headed
Sutter should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Sutter beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sutter in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled occupational meaning with a documented Latin root.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- A real and vivid place in American history behind the surname.
- The gold rush association is the reason most Americans recognize it.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- Sutter, Suter and Souter are all in use and get confused.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Sutter
Masculine · #3583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sutters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Sutter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sutter in 2025?
- Sutter ranks #3583 among US boy names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sutter?
- About 1 in every 55,099 US boys born in 2025 was named Sutter — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sutter with classmates?
- Sutter will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sutter
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Geoffrey#3583 · Robinson#3583 · Kimani#3583 · Emre#3583 · Yoan#3583 · Anirudh#3583 · Kristofer#3583 · Heber#3583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sutter? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sutter and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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