Hunter

What Hunter means

From the word “hunter”

From hunter.

Source: Wiktionary, “Hunter” (revision 91070607), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Hunter?

US: Falling: down from #41 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #133 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2000, when 12,538 boys got the name (#35 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 619 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 457 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 249 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 WY (5.5 per 1,000 boys), RI (5.44 per 1,000 boys), WV (4.55 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Hunter is #130 in the US and #91 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 89.5% of US babies named Hunter 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 Hunter

Boys

• Davis#668Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #668 vs #5,137 in 2025
• Cole#182“coal, coal-black”^*
• Keaton#769possibly “hedge, enclosure + farmstead, settlement”^*
• Grant#228“big, large”^*
• Peyton#683Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2007, with 3,375 babies; 398 in 2025
• Conner#864Variant of Connor, meaning “lover of hounds”^*

For a sister

• Mckenzie#576Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 2,528 babies; 517 in 2025
• Madison#40Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1970, with 5 babies
• Mackenzie#228“son, descendant + of Coinneach”^*
• Makenzie#700Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #210 in 2015, #700 in 2025
• Bailey#208“outer castle wall”^*
• Skyler#670Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #283 in 2015, #670 in 2025

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 Hunter’s. Rank is US 2025.