What Is an Australian Western Hat Called? Akubra and Aussie Hat Names Explained

The hats Americans call Australian western hats are usually Akubras, and Australians name them by style — outback hat, stockman hat, cattleman hat, or slouch hat.

Slap the word “cowboy” on an Akubra and half of Australia winces, because that isn’t the hat they handed you. The names change with the brim, the crown, and who’s wearing it, and the brand behind most of them has been shaping felt in the same country for generations.

Here’s what each term actually means, which models wear which name, and what you’re buying when you order one from the States.

What Is an Australian Western Hat Actually Called?

Most often it’s an outback hat — the broad, sweeping category that covers the wide-brimmed felt styles outsiders lump together as western hats. From there, the name splits by shape and purpose:

• Outback hat — wide brim, taller crown, worn for sun and dust. The safest all-purpose term.
• Stockman hat — built for working cattle and sheep stations; a flatter, more practical crown.
• Cattleman hat — the closest thing to a US cowboy hat, with a creased crown and curved brim.
• Slouch hat — soft felt with one brim side pinned up; tied to Australian military history, not ranch work.

Call an Akubra a cowboy hat in mixed company and you’ll get corrected. Many of the brand’s styles are fedora- and outback-shaped, not western at all — the brim tells you which name fits.

Is Akubra a Hat or a Brand?

Akubra is a brand, not a category — one Australian manufacturer, not a generic name for any felt hat. Treating it as a catch-all for “Australian hat” is like calling every tissue a Kleenex: common, but imprecise.

Akubra’s own storefront lists dozens of models across outback, western-adjacent, and dress-felt shapes. A few of the current names and Australian prices give you the range:

Those are Australian retail listings, and they shift with the season and the seller — so treat the numbers as a snapshot, not a fixed price tag.

What Should US Buyers Know Before Ordering?

US pricing and availability differ from Akubra’s Australian storefront, because the listed prices are in AUD and the product mix is region-specific. Expect to see a different figure once shipping, import handling, and the seller’s markup land.

The practical route: decide the shape first — outback, stockman, or cattleman — then hunt the exact model name rather than searching “Australian western hat,” which returns a lot of noise. If you want side-by-side picks without the guesswork, our rundown of the best Australian western hats covers the models worth your money.

Two things to sort out before you commit: your actual head measurement in centimeters (Akubra sizes run on the metric system, so a US hat size won’t translate cleanly), and whether the seller is shipping genuine Akubra or a lookalike riding the name.

If you want the full model range in one place, Akubra’s hat collection lays out every current style so you can match a name to a shape before you buy.