Stetson
One with a crown or garland; a proper name of English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 12,882 living Americans carry the first name Stetson. It sits at #155 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Stetson today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stetson births was 2024 (2,349 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stetson. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Stetson is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 84 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Stetson is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
- • Stetson is on the rise. The most recent decade saw more than double the registrations of the decade before it.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 26,607 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,349 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#155
Tracked since 1930
Census
Stetson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,831 people with the first name Stetson, which placed it at #4,019 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,019
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,831 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stetson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stetson is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Stetson described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Stetson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 3,997
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 295
- Two or more races4.7% · 226
- Black or African American3.1% · 152
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 125
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 36
Gender
Gender distribution for Stetson
Out of the 13,016 babies given the name Stetson since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Stetson as a male name
- Ranked #155 in 2024
- 2,328 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (2,328 births)
Stetson as a female name
- Ranked #5,918 in 2024
- 21 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stetson appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,822 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Stetson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stetson from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 7,347 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stetson by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Stetson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Stetsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Stetson, while Alaska, Maine, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 264 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Stetson
The name Stetson has its origins in the English language and is derived from the Old English word "stet", which means "place" or "territory". It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived in a particular place or area.
In the late 19th century, the name Stetson gained popularity as a given name, likely inspired by the famous Stetson hat company founded by John B. Stetson in 1865. The Stetson hat became an iconic symbol of the American West, and the name carried connotations of ruggedness and adventure.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Stetson as a first name can be found in the late 1800s. Stetson Humphrey (1862-1942) was an American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the lumber industry.
Another notable bearer of the name was Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011), an American author, and human rights activist who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s to expose their activities.
In the realm of sports, Stetson Allie (born 1991) is a professional baseball player who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010.
Stetson Blefko (born 1994) is a Canadian actor best known for his role in the television series "Letterkenny".
Lastly, Stetson White (born 1989) is an American musician and singer-songwriter who has released several albums in the country and Americana genres.
While the name Stetson may have originated as a surname, its use as a given name has been influenced by the iconic Stetson hat brand and the adventurous spirit it represents. The name has been carried by various individuals across different fields, from business and activism to sports and entertainment.
People
Stetson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stetson as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Stetson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stetson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,882 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stetson going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 26,607 US residents.
Is Stetson a common name?
We classify Stetson as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,016 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stetson most popular?
The single biggest year for Stetson was 2024, when 2,349 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stetson is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stetson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,831 people with the name Stetson, or 1.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,019 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Stetson in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Stetson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stetson appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,822 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Stetson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stetson is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Stetson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stetson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (3,997 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Stetson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stetson a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Stetson in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Stetson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stetson in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Stetson can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Stetson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.