Hunter Name Meaning

A strong name with rugged appeal, Hunter has been hanging out in the Top 100 since the 1990s. He’s the ultimate outdoor name, conjuring up images of forests, grit, and exploration.

Hunter is unafraid of adventure, embracing the journey and wilds along the way. He’s a free spirit that hates being tied down, someone who is a bit restless if forced to color between the lines too long. He loves learning new things about himself and others. This makes him a natural born leader.

While his meaning isn’t the most peaceful, the name doesn’t come off as aggressive. He’s much more approachable than when he first popped on the scene, quickly finding his place as a classroom regular alongside Landon and Dylan. He fits in well with the occupation name trend that has also ushered in Cooper, Carter, and Mason.

A youthful name, Hunter is the perfect pick for a gung-ho toddler or a little boy with endless energy and enthusiasm. He also ages with ease, fitting an active adult as well. He has a serious side that adapts well to professional life.

Parents who hate nicknames are in luck, as Hunter isn’t often shortened. Hunt can be used, but it isn’t that common.

Infographic of Hunter name meaning, which is A name derived from the word for a hunter of animals, Hunter is an English name.
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Hunter Name Popularity

How popular is the name Hunter? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 0 0%
1911 0 0%
1912 679 13 0.0026%
1913 675 17 0.003%
1914 702 24 0.0034%
1915 759 28 0.0031%
1916 940 16 0.0017%
1917 756 32 0.0032%
1918 766 36 0.0034%
1919 853 27 0.0026%
1920 860 29 0.0026%
1921 894 26 0.0023%
1922 964 21 0.0019%
1923 868 29 0.0026%
1924 854 30 0.0026%
1925 1,026 17 0.0015%
1926 789 34 0.0031%
1927 993 19 0.0017%
1928 858 27 0.0025%
1929 771 33 0.0032%
1930 1,426 5 0.0005%
1931 838 26 0.0026%
1932 777 32 0.0032%
1933 984 14 0.0015%
1934 1,066 12 0.0012%
1935 976 15 0.0015%
1936 1,396 5 0.0005%
1937 1,123 9 0.0009%
1938 1,130 9 0.0009%
1939 1,090 9 0.0009%
1940 1,014 13 0.0012%
1941 0 0%
1942 1,044 13 0.001%
1943 1,089 11 0.0008%
1944 988 14 0.0011%
1945 1,070 10 0.0008%
1946 891 23 0.0016%
1947 881 29 0.0017%
1948 1,049 15 0.0009%
1949 1,049 15 0.0009%
1950 1,074 14 0.0009%
1951 1,121 12 0.0007%
1952 963 22 0.0013%
1953 1,254 10 0.0006%
1954 937 26 0.0014%
1955 1,080 17 0.0009%
1956 1,039 19 0.001%
1957 918 31 0.0016%
1958 1,314 9 0.0005%
1959 946 29 0.0015%
1960 864 38 0.002%
1961 895 36 0.0019%
1962 837 41 0.0022%
1963 884 34 0.0019%
1964 908 33 0.0019%
1965 853 36 0.0022%
1966 1,305 7 0.0004%
1967 854 35 0.0023%
1968 798 44 0.0029%
1969 807 50 0.0032%
1970 810 57 0.0036%
1971 796 59 0.0039%
1972 816 53 0.0039%
1973 826 52 0.004%
1974 817 54 0.0042%
1975 845 53 0.0041%
1976 713 87 0.0068%
1977 706 96 0.0071%
1978 725 89 0.0066%
1979 633 133 0.0094%
1980 551 200 0.0137%
1981 515 224 0.0152%
1982 473 275 0.0184%
1983 443 309 0.0209%
1984 382 409 0.0275%
1985 340 515 0.0339%
1986 308 628 0.0416%
1987 268 783 0.0513%
1988 243 936 0.0601%
1989 224 1,184 0.0734%
1990 219 1,377 0.0831%
1991 167 1,904 0.1168%
1992 133 2,538 0.159%
1993 97 3,788 0.243%
1994 67 5,580 0.3636%
1995 53 6,713 0.4454%
1996 47 7,602 0.5077%
1997 44 8,405 0.5683%
1998 36 11,078 0.7402%
1999 36 11,481 0.7667%
2000 35 12,535 0.8206%
2001 36 11,334 0.7522%
2002 38 11,079 0.7393%
2003 41 9,900 0.6507%
2004 49 8,899 0.5839%
2005 53 8,506 0.5563%
2006 54 8,567 0.5471%
2007 57 8,203 0.5199%
2008 54 8,032 0.5197%
2009 56 7,736 0.5176%
2010 59 7,317 0.5077%
2011 55 7,365 0.5169%
2012 45 8,030 0.5635%
2013 36 8,954 0.6289%
2014 40 8,808 0.6045%
2015 41 8,325 0.5722%
2016 45 7,645 0.5302%
2017 53 6,701 0.4801%
2018 57 6,050 0.4404%
2019 66 5,353 0.3954%
2020 69 4,640 0.3645%
2021 86 4,171 0.3412%
2022 100 3,551 0.2692%

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Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Hunter

If you like Hunter, you’ll love these other names like Hunter.


What names are diminutives of Hunter?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Hunter sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Hunter, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Hunt

Hunt

English


What names sound like Hunter?

If you like how Hunter sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Hunter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Henderson

Son of Henry

English

Hendrie

Son of Henry

English

Hendries

Son of Henry

English

Hendrik

Home ruler

German

Hendron

Son of Henry

English

Huntington

Hunter's settlement

English

Huntlea

Meadow of the hunter

English

Huntlee

Meadow of the hunter

English

Huntleigh

Meadow of the hunter

English

Huntley

Meadow of the hunter

English

Huntly

Meadow of the hunter

English


What names are similar to Hunter?

Find a name that’s like Hunter, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Archer

Bowman

English

Axel

My father is peace

Scandinavian

Carter

Cart user

English

Colton

Charcoal settlement

English

Gunner

Warrior

Scandinavian

Mason

Stoneworker

English

Miles

Soldier

Latin

Ryder

Mounted warrior

English

Waylon

Land by the road

English

Weston

West town

English


Lists With Hunter

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Hunter.


Siblings of Hunter

Mamas with kids named Hunter also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Ariana

Most holy

Latin

Maddison

Son of Maud

English

Aiden

Little fire

Irish

Ricky

Powerful leader; peaceful ruler

German

Noah

To rest

Hebrew

Forrest

Woodsman; woods

French

23 Comments

  1. We just liked the name.

    That I can be a boy or girl name

  2. My husband is a big outdoorsman and he chose the name. We live in a very rural area, so it is a very common activity here. There is nothing we don’t like about this name, we love the fact he won’t have a million different nicknames.

  3. I 100% thought he was going to be a girl. I had a full girl name picked out and everything! When I found out I was having a boy it took me about 3-4 days to get use to the idea and come up with a list of boy names. Hunter is the only one that stuck out and stuck ?. And considering I love the outdoors and my family is big into hunting and fishing it made sense. His middle name, Thomas, is after me dad!

  4. I let his father name him

  5. My husband chose the name 🙂

    He just always liked the name Hunter!

  6. I always knew growing up if I had a son I would name him Hunter Daniel (then what ever the last name of his daddy was)! My grandma and my mom have always been my rocks and I love them both so very much. I wanted to honor each one of them in my children’s names. My g-ma’s maiden name was Hunter and my moms maiden name was Daniel. My son was born in 1993 and I did in fact name him Hunter Daniel! It is the absolute most perfect name for him. When I got pregnant with my daughter in 1997 I wanted to name her after my mom and dad. My moms name was Kathryn Lynn and my dads name was Tony Joe. When my daughter was born I named her Kamryn Jo and gave her my
    maiden last name and hyphenated it with my kids dads last name. I should also point out that my middle name is Jo and their other grandfathers middle name is Joe!
    My daughter just had a baby girl almost 7 weeks ago. It was important to her to keep the trend going with family names. She named her baby girl Karsyn Jo Lynn! I have always believed that names are so very important and there should be some meaning when naming a baby – it sticks with them their entire life.

  7. Both my partner and myself love the outdoors and hunting. We both feel in love with the name. I’ve also only met one other Hunter so I felt like it wasn’t a really popular name.

  8. It’s a perfect name for us we are both hunters and love spending time outside.

  9. I love the name and also his full name is Hunter Zachary Gene Stude. The reason I chose Hunter is because it was a great name. Zackary because of one of my friends. Gene because of my best friend that passed away and I wanted part of him in my child’s name and Stude is because of his daddy’s last name

  10. Hunter was the only name my husband and I both liked. We felt that it’s a more outdoorsy name and that fits our lifestyle. We prayed long and hard about a name and Hunter was the only one that stuck!

  11. I love my sons name nothing bad about it actually. We chose it to fit the nature theme we have going his older sisters name is river so it just fit really well

  12. maverick? glad you went with hunter my brother is called hunter

  13. Hunting is one of his fathers favorite hobbies.

  14. I always loved the name and I said if I ever had another boy I would name him Hunter and yse my dad’s and brothers middle name to go with it

  15. My daughter picked out the name hunter

  16. I heard the name Hunter in a movie once and I really liked it.

  17. My husbands moms maiden name was hunt

  18. We wanted to honor my husband’s father who passed away 12 years ago. His dad was named after his father, so we named our son after my husband.

  19. I wanted the name maverick ,but Shawn didn’t like it so my aunt and uncle started coming up with names and that’s how we came
    Up with hunter. His middle
    Name is Allen after my
    Dad who passed away in my 20’s. I’m turning 36 in August

  20. Dad chose the name hunter our other kids are fisher and River and hunter went right along with Them I wanted you to have a unique name but dads heart has been set in Hunter you hear if everywhere I wanted to name you Ruger or even arrow but

  21. We choose Hunter because we wanted our son to pursue life like a hunter does. Ever honing skills, perseverance, and knowledge. It is about the persuit of life not trophies.

  22. Our son was born on the full moon in October which we learned is called the Hunter’s Moon.

  23. My husband has loved the name as long as he can remember. Being outdoorsy folks, it fits right in with our lifestyle, too. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the name; I’m not typically a big fan of occupation names. Knowing how much my husband loved the name, I decided to give it serious consideration and eventually I agreed to name our son Hunter. Now that he’s here, the name completely fits him and I am totally in love with him and his name 🙂


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