Fletcher

What Fletcher means

Means “arrow-maker”

English occupational surname from the noun fletcher (“arrow-maker”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Fletcher” (revision 92948555), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Fletcher?

US: Rising: up from #665 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #228 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1892, when 45 boys got the name (#266 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,111 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,615 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,511 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (3.08 per 1,000 boys), SD (1.82 per 1,000 boys), AR (1.75 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Fletcher is #545 in the US and #395 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 97.9% of US babies named Fletcher were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Fletcher

Boys

• Archer#98Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #289 in 2015, #98 in 2025
• Oakley#454“oak + woodland clearing, glade”^*
• Tatum#202Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #585 in 2015, #202 in 2025
• Laith#893Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #254 vs #893 in 2025
• Hayes#162“brushwood”^*
• Sutton#332“south + town”^*

For a sister

• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Kinsley#93“Royal (a man's name) + s + woodland clearing”^*
• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Fletcher’s. Rank is US 2025.