# What's your normal name for a Flat Cap? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176 "2016-03-16T17:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/81 "2018-10-24T22:24:22Z")
I’ve always called it a cabbie cap. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/82 "2018-10-24T23:21:44Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I’ve always called it a cabbie cap. Only if made of leather. ---
**Author:** ![Onthefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de053/32.png) [@Onthefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onthefly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/83 "2018-10-25T00:12:55Z")
It’s a Hogan cap. Named after Ben Hogan who regularly wore one. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/84 "2018-10-25T03:31:04Z")
Channeling my Grandmother on the subject: I had to hit the search button, and didn’t find anyone else who knows it as a “Derby.” Which I find exceedingly odd, as I thought everybody knew there were three primary types of men’s hat: Derby, Fedora, and Homborg, with there being no discernible difference between the last two. Of course, you could include bowler and cowboy, but no serious person has worn either since the 1950’s. Then there’s caps, which include baseball and golf. “Golf cap” is what you call a baseball cap when it’s been made out of natural fibers. I have heard the occasional reference to a Derby as being a Tweed Cap. But that’s just a nickname, slightly pejorative but kindly meant. Snap brims also exist but are meant as costumes for children, with adults insisting upon the brim being properly sewn to the crown. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/85 "2018-10-25T03:32:51Z")
I have only heard Derby as synonymous with bowler. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/86 "2018-10-25T07:44:56Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I have only heard Derby as synonymous with bowler. Yes, definitely a bowler, not a flat cap. For me, the flat cap is synonymous with the English working classes of the late 19th/early 20th century. You can see it in all its popularism in old photos of football crowds, [like this one](https://socialistpartyp.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/football-working-class.jpg). For this reason it’s also tres popular with hipsters. There’s a very popular British gansgter drama series, set in the turn of the 20th century in Birmingham, England, based on a real crime gang known as the [Peaky Blinders](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=peaky+blinders&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB766GB766&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwij3vicjKHeAhUDF5AKHdntDgYQ_AUIDigB&biw=1967&bih=1123) - their distinctive dress included flat caps with razor blades in the peaks, hence the nickname (true story). My dad (aged 90) still wears a flat cap. Not as a fashion statement. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/87 "2018-10-25T12:47:07Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned “duffer hat”. A Google search shows that this a term for such a hat. Oddly, the first link is to the Wikipedia article on flat hats … which does not contain the word “duffer”. I know this was the common term back in the late 60s thru 70s. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/88 "2018-10-25T14:38:02Z")
This thread prompted me to dig around into the history of the flat cap, which points us to 14th century Northern England, when it was known as a bonnet. So I’m going with ‘bonnet’ just to confuse people. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/89 "2018-10-25T15:27:56Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I have only heard Derby as synonymous with bowler. D’Oh! You’re absolutely right. Memory glitch - not the Derby, but the Ascot. It’s an [Ascot cap.](https://www.villagehatshop.com/category/48/1/ascot-caps.html) Wrong horserace. Also, in New England sometimes called a[Scally cap](https://www.bostonscally.com/products/the-neighborhood-boston-scally-cap-coolidge-black-1?variant=12612498686039&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI28CYz_Sh3gIVBFmGCh0ygAZSEAQYBCABEgJp4vD_BwE) (pronounced “scully.”) But those are shaped a little differently. They are more of a teardrop shape on the sides. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/90 "2018-10-25T16:40:14Z")
I suggested to my husband that he ought to get one, because I associate them with driving around in snappy sports cars in the English countryside. But he said he’d feel more like the [cabbie in Sherlock](https://sherlockholmestv.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/jeffhope11.jpg), and declined. Oh, and I’ve always called them “English driving caps”. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/91 "2018-10-25T17:11:50Z")
I’m thirding Scally cap ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/92 "2018-10-25T19:56:45Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Yes, definitely a bowler, not a flat cap. > > For me, the flat cap is synonymous with the English working classes of the late 19th/early 20th century. You can see it in all its popularism in old photos of football crowds, [like this one](https://socialistpartyp.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/football-working-class.jpg). For this reason it’s also tres popular with hipsters. In the US, there is a 75% chance that the wearer is on his way to a Dropkick Murphys show. In England, a 75% that he is standing next to a [rangy dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurcher) > [@](#): > > There’s a very popular British gansgter drama series, set in the turn of the 20th century in Birmingham, England, based on a real crime gang known as the [Peaky Blinders](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=peaky+blinders&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB766GB766&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwij3vicjKHeAhUDF5AKHdntDgYQ_AUIDigB&biw=1967&bih=1123) - their distinctive dress included flat caps with razor blades in the peaks, hence the nickname (true story). Maybe. [Some dispute that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaky_Blinders#Origin_of_the_name). It is the dominant theory, and the interpretation used by the show. > [@TruCelt](#): > > D’Oh! You’re absolutely right. Memory glitch - not the Derby, but the Ascot. It’s an [Ascot cap.](https://www.villagehatshop.com/category/48/1/ascot-caps.html) Wrong horserace. > > Also, in New England sometimes called a[Scally cap](https://www.bostonscally.com/products/the-neighborhood-boston-scally-cap-coolidge-black-1?variant=12612498686039&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI28CYz_Sh3gIVBFmGCh0ygAZSEAQYBCABEgJp4vD_BwE) (pronounced “scully.”) But those are shaped a little differently. They are more of a teardrop shape on the sides. Yeah, the Ascot has a bulgy top that the flat doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/93 "2018-10-25T20:12:43Z")
I thought they were called Paddy caps. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/94 "2018-10-26T01:40:32Z")
I had one in 8th grade…a Jeff. > **[Handmade Hats for Men and Women | Hats in the Belfry](https://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/)** > > Find beautiful, unconventional designer and handmade hats in all styles for men and women. Shop the stylish hats created by Hats in Belfry for over 44 years. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/95 "2018-10-26T07:34:31Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yeah, the Ascot has a bulgy top that the flat doesn’t. I think the Ascot cap is hard-ish? Like a smooth, hard felt. Ascot, of course, is a famous race track in England. Flat caps and their ilk have long been favoured by racegoers and trainers in England. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/96 "2018-10-26T10:24:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It might be worth noting that in the UK, the wearing of flat caps is part of a (usually good-natured humourous) stereotype about ‘northerners’ (which for southerners used to mean anyone north of Watford, Northamptonshire - but this seems to have become confused with Watford, Berkshire, and so now the stereotype may be jokingly applied to anyone north of London). > > Northerners in this stereotype are characterised as Yorkshiremen by speech and attitude, proudly poor, owning a whippet, drinking tea, brown ale and bitter, eating black pudding and lard, talking about the moors, or trouble at t’ mill, and wearing a flat cap. Nah then. You’re forgetting that [Andy Capp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Capp) is supposed to be a [monkey-hanger](http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/history/thehartlepoolmonkey.asp). ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/97 "2018-10-26T14:46:53Z")
I call them flat caps, or Don hats in honor of my sister’s SO who has a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/98 "2018-10-26T16:38:59Z")
Honestly (since you asked), in elementary and high school I called them by their shape: cow pie hats. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/99 "2018-10-26T18:36:44Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Flat cap. > > Unless it has a pom-pom on the top. Then it is a tam. Tams don’t have brims. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176/100 "2018-10-26T19:39:38Z")
This sure is an unexpected thread to get bumped. It made my day–I re-read the brief anecdote I had [posted](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19186481&postcount=34)and forgotten about an event with my kids back when they were tweens, and it put a smile on my face. I miss those days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-normal-name-for-a-flat-cap/749176.md?page=6)