Fun Facts About the Name Slater
- More than 2 thousand babies named Slater: U.S. records list 2,445 babies given the name Slater from 1880 through 2025. Even 67 girls received the name Slater - about 1 girl for every 35 boys.
What Does the Name Slater Mean?
Slater is an English occupational name meaning "slate worker" - someone who split slate or laid it as roofing. It comes from Middle English slat or sclat ("slate"), borrowed from Old French esclat, "a splinter or piece," which goes back to a Germanic root meaning "to split." The stone is named for the way it separates into thin, flat sheets, and the worker's title came from the stone.
Most families that bear the surname descend from men who followed that trade. A smaller number may have taken the name from living near a slate quarry or outcrop, but the occupational sense is the primary one.
Slater Name History & Origins
Slater belongs to the large group of English surnames taken from a craft. Hereditary trade surnames settled on families in England during the later Middle Ages, and slaters were the craftsmen who split slate and covered roofs with it. Because usable roofing slate came from particular regions - Cornwall, Wales, the Lake District, and parts of Yorkshire and Scotland - the surname is most common in those areas and spread outward from them.
Older spellings such as Sclater were used in past centuries and survive today as a variant form of the name. It traveled with English and Scottish settlement to Ireland and to North America.
As a first name, Slater is a transferred use of the surname rather than an independent personal name with its own separate history, and it is uncommon. Its best-known bearers - the actor Christian Slater, the surfer Kelly Slater, and the fictional A.C. Slater of the television show Saved by the Bell - all use it as a surname.
How Popular is the Name Slater?
Slater has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #1,275 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,381 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 2024 | #14,983 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #7,997 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2022 | #9,585 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 2021 | #13,292 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #14,868 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2019 | #9,041 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,275 | 155 | 0.0091% |
| 2024 | #1,540 | 114 | 0.0066% |
| 2023 | #1,571 | 111 | 0.0065% |
| 2022 | #1,432 | 128 | 0.0073% |
| 2021 | #1,603 | 107 | 0.0061% |
| 2020 | #1,825 | 82 | 0.0048% |
| 2019 | #2,016 | 73 | 0.0041% |
| 2018 | #1,701 | 93 | 0.0051% |
| 2017 | #1,894 | 77 | 0.0042% |
| 2016 | #2,384 | 55 | 0.0029% |
| 2015 | #2,559 | 49 | 0.0026% |
| 2014 | #1,940 | 75 | 0.0039% |
| 2013 | #2,418 | 52 | 0.0027% |
| 2012 | #2,623 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 2011 | #2,226 | 59 | 0.0031% |
| 2010 | #2,865 | 42 | 0.0022% |
| 2009 | #2,516 | 51 | 0.0026% |
| 2008 | #2,670 | 47 | 0.0023% |
| 2007 | #2,331 | 56 | 0.0027% |
| 2006 | #2,146 | 61 | 0.0030% |
| 2005 | #2,394 | 49 | 0.0025% |
| 2004 | #2,834 | 37 | 0.0019% |
| 2003 | #2,120 | 53 | 0.0027% |
| 2002 | #1,707 | 69 | 0.0036% |
| 2001 | #1,908 | 58 | 0.0030% |
| 2000 | #1,920 | 55 | 0.0028% |
| 1999 | #1,897 | 52 | 0.0027% |
| 1998 | #2,152 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 1997 | #2,389 | 35 | 0.0019% |
| 1996 | #1,838 | 50 | 0.0026% |
| 1995 | #2,095 | 40 | 0.0021% |
| 1994 | #1,604 | 58 | 0.0030% |
| 1993 | #1,929 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 1992 | #2,401 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 1991 | #2,903 | 23 | 0.0011% |
| 1990 | #5,748 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1989 | #6,142 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1988 | #8,333 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #7,974 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #6,290 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #6,144 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #5,950 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #4,115 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1972 | #5,643 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1971 | #5,554 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1970 | #5,341 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #4,434 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1957 | #4,480 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1950 | #3,637 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1937 | #3,951 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #3,498 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1928 | #4,654 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1927 | #3,736 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1926 | #4,749 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1925 | #2,729 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1919 | #3,349 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1918 | #4,107 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1917 | #4,496 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1915 | #4,317 | 5 | 0.0006% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Slater Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are spiritually intense and can sting or charm. Your name brings love and new starts into life and attracts money. In business, you are the creator and promoter of original ideas and usually enjoy considerable financial success. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Slater's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Slater's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.