The first name Stetson
A boy’s name meaning “site in the parish of south brent”, “farmstead estate”.
2 syllables Male Also a surname
Meaning and origin
Stetson means “site in the parish of south brent”, “farmstead estate”.
A variant of Stitson, a habitational name from Stidston (“site in the Parish of South Brent”), from Middle English Stidewardesdoune, Stidewardeston, Stitewardeston, Styddeston, from Old English *Stīthweardes (genitive of *Stīthweard (personal name)) + tūn (“farmstead estate”). * (hat): From Stetson, an American brand of hat named after its manufacturer, John B. Stetson Company, itself named after John B. Stetson, who founded it in 1865. The hats were widely known in the 1870s and 1880s. Sol Steinmetz stated in 2010 that Stetson hat was first attested in 1900, but this is clearly mistaken, being several decades too late; it may be that what Steinmetz had meant to write is that Stetson alone as a common noun meaning a Stetson hat was first attested in 1900.
From Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in the United States
Babies named Stetson at birth, 1880–2025
In 2025, 2,662 boys born in the United States were named Stetson, the 136th most popular boys’ name that year.
US Social Security Administration, from applications for a Social Security card. A name is only published for a year when at least five babies were given it, so quieter years show as zero.
Famous people named Stetson
1 on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Stetson KennedyAuthor, folklorist, anti-Ku Klux Klan crusader (1916-2011)
Questions
- What does the name Stetson mean?
- Stetson means “site in the parish of south brent”, “farmstead estate”.
- Is Stetson a boy's or a girl's name?
- Mostly a boy's name: 99% of the 15,725 US babies named Stetson since 1880 were boys.
- When was Stetson most popular?
- 2025 in the United States, when 2,662 babies were named Stetson, its highest rank at 136th.
- Is Stetson also a surname?
- Yes. Stetson is used as a surname as well as a first name; its surname page has the origin and how many people carry it.