What Are Beanies With Ear Flaps Called? A Guide to Earflap Hat Styles

The knit caps commonly called earflap beanies also go by trapper hat, bomber hat, aviator hat, and ushanka, each naming a different material and build.

The knitted cap with two hanging flaps that ties under the chin is an earflap beanie in casual US usage; the same silhouette in fur is an ushanka; retailers often stack both under “trapper hat.” What are beanies with ear flaps called comes down to which family of hat you’re holding.

This guide breaks the ear-flap hat world into its real styles, flags confusing terms, and names words worth avoiding.

Earflap Beanie, Trapper Hat, Ushanka: What’s The Difference?

An earflap beanie is a knitted cap with two flaps covering the ears, usually tying under the chin; a trapper hat is the umbrella term for any winter hat with ear flaps; an ushanka is the fur version with long, tieable flaps built for extreme cold.

The labels aren’t interchangeable. The knitted version is soft, casual, and cheap to make. The trapper hat label applies loosely to everything from canvas hunting caps to quilted bomber styles. The ushanka is a Russian fur hat with ear-covering flaps that tie on top of the crown or under the chin, per Wikipedia’s ushanka entry.

• Earflap beanie / knit earflap cap — knitted, softer, casual, often with chin ties. The everyday winter hat.
• Ushanka — fur or faux fur, long flaps, built for serious cold. Often called a “Russian hat” in US stores.
• Trapper hat, bomber hat, aviator hat — umbrella terms for flap hats, used inconsistently across retailers.

Where The Names Get Confusing

Two words trip up US shoppers most: “toboggan” and “deerstalker.” Neither is a universal synonym for an earflap beanie.

“Toboggan” is the sharper trap. In Southern American English, toboggan can mean a knit cap generally, ear flaps or not. Wikipedia’s knit cap entry notes the term’s regional split, which is why it never travels well outside its home region.

“Deerstalker” refers specifically to the hunting cap associated with Sherlock Holmes — front and back brim plus side flaps. Using it for any flapped winter hat is a common mistake.

• Sherpa and toboggan — regional or loose terms for knit caps, sometimes with flaps.
• Aviator hat — usually a leather or shearling flap hat, closer to a bomber than a beanie.
• Chullo — the Andean knitted earflap cap, distinct from the US beanie despite a similar shape.

Style guides group trapper, aviator, bomber, and ushanka as a family; what they don’t admit is that umbrella terms apply inconsistently across stores, per Outfitters’ style breakdown. Wikipedia’s ushanka page confirms the fur style’s flap design; its knit cap page covers regional knit terminology.

If you’re shopping rather than researching, the tested roundup of the best beanie with ears is faster than sifting through mismatched product names.

Which Name Should You Actually Use?

Use “earflap beanie” for knit caps, “ushanka” for the fur Russian style, and “trapper hat” as an umbrella term stores recognize.

Style names track material more than geography. Fur flaps: “ushanka” is correct in English even outside Russia. Knitted with two ties: “earflap beanie” is plainest. Quilted shell with faux-fur lining: “trapper hat” or “bomber hat” fits.

Avoid calling every flapped hat a beanie, calling any flapped hat a deerstalker, and treating “toboggan” as universal US English. Say material plus style — “fleece earflap beanie,” “faux-fur ushanka,” “quilted trapper hat” — and the name sorts itself out.

Buying is a separate problem about fit and lining. For sizing, warmth, and which knit holds up, check our tested beanies with ear flaps picks.