Strother
One who lives near a marshy area or an unkempt thicket.
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Strother. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Strother today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Strother births was 1919 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Strother. 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
- • The typical person named Strother is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Strothers were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Strother. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1919
10 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1952 SSA rank
#4,201
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Strother: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Strother from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 30 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Strother 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 Strother during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Strothers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Strother
The given name Strother has its origins in Old English, deriving from the word "strother," which means "a thicket" or "a brushwood." This name was likely given to individuals who lived near or worked in areas with dense vegetation or wooded regions.
The earliest known use of Strother as a given name dates back to the 12th century in England. It was particularly prevalent in the northern regions of the country, where various spellings such as Strother, Strodder, and Strodur were used interchangeably.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Strother was Sir William Strother, a 13th-century English knight who fought in the Scottish Wars of Independence. Another notable figure was Strother Strodder, a 14th-century landowner from Northumberland, whose name appears in several historical records from that period.
In the 16th century, the name gained some prominence with the birth of Strother Phillpott (1535-1592), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Somerset during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Centuries later, Strother Martin (1919-1980), an American character actor known for his roles in films such as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," carried on the legacy of this unique name.
Another prominent individual with the name Strother was Sir John Strother (1620-1675), an English courtier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament and was knighted by King Charles II. In the literary world, Strother Purdy (1838-1889), an American writer and humorist, gained recognition for his humorous sketches and short stories depicting life in the American South.
While not as common as some other given names, Strother has maintained a presence throughout history, carrying with it a connection to the natural world and a sense of ruggedness associated with its origins in Old English.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Strother
People
Strother + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Strother 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
Strother: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Strother?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Strother 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Strother a common name?
We classify Strother as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Strother most popular?
The single biggest year for Strother was 1919, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Strother is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Strother a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Strother 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.
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.