Slater
One who tiles or slates roofs.
Name Census estimates that about 2,188 living Americans carry the first name Slater. It is a predominantly male name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Slater today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Slater births was 2022 (139 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Slater. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Slater with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Slater is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 56 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Slater is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 156,652 Americans
Peak year
2022
139 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,540
Tracked since 1915
Census
Slater in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,652 people with the first name Slater, which placed it at #8,705 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
#8,705
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,652 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Slater
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Slater is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Slater 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 Slater at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.8% · 1,334
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 124
- Two or more races5.6% · 93
- Black or African American3.8% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Slater
Slater leans heavily male at 97.5% of total registrations, but 56 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Slater as a male name
- Ranked #1,540 in 2024
- 114 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (128 births)
Slater as a female name
- Ranked #14,983 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Slater leans strongly male. 1,594 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 67 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Slater: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Slater from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 634 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
Slater 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 Slater during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Slaters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Slater, while New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Slater
The given name Slater has its origins in the Old English language, stemming from the word "slat," which referred to a thin wooden strip or roof shingle. The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in England, where it initially denoted an occupation or trade related to the production or installation of roof slates or shingles.
In its earliest form, the name was likely spelled as "Slatter" or "Slater," reflecting the linguistic evolution of the English language over time. The name's occupational roots suggest that it may have been adopted by individuals who worked as roofers, tilers, or in related trades involving the use of slates or shingles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Slater can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population records compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. This historical document mentions individuals bearing the surname "Slater" in various parts of England.
Throughout history, the name Slater has been borne by several notable individuals, including John Slater (1776-1837), an English writer and poet. Another prominent figure was Samuel Slater (1768-1835), known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" for his role in establishing the first successful cotton mill in the United States.
In the realm of science, John Clarke Slater (1900-1976) was a renowned American physicist and chemist who made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. James Slater (1717-1805), an English engraver and writer, is also worth mentioning for his work on the first illustrated edition of Laurence Sterne's novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
Additionally, the name Slater has been associated with the arts, as evidenced by the American actor Christian Slater (born 1969), known for his roles in films such as "Heathers" and "True Romance."
While the name Slater may have originated as an occupational title, it has evolved over time to become a given name in its own right, transcending its initial vocational associations and gaining a broader cultural significance.
People
Slater + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Slater 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
Slater: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Slater?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Slater 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 156,652 US residents.
Is Slater a common name?
We classify Slater as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Slater most popular?
The single biggest year for Slater was 2022, when 139 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Slater is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Slater in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,652 people with the name Slater, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,705 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 Slater 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 Slater?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Slater leans strongly male. 1,594 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 67 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Slater?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Slater is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Slater most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Slater in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.8% (1,334 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 Slater in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Slater a male name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Slater 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 Slater still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Slater 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 Slater 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 many people are called Slater?
You can see how many people have the name Slater on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.