Ten-gallon hat

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A humourous depiction of an "eight-gallon hat", which illustrates how the name ten-gallon hat is an obvious exaggeration.

A ten-gallon hat is a type of cowboy hat. The name came about because of a linguistic misunderstanding. Cowboy hats arrived in Texas via Mexico, with Mexican vaqueros who wore hats decorated with galloon (narrow braided trimming) around the crown. The Spanish word for "galloon" is "galón." Texas cowboys misunderstood the word "galón" for "gallon," and a false legend was born. In fact, a ten-gallon hat holds less than a gallon, and if it were to actually hold 10 gallons, it would be too large to wear on the head.

Another widely accepted etymology is that vaqueros would describe the hats as "tan galán" or "so gallant" and American cowboys misheard it as "ten gallon."

One popular manufacturer of this type of hat is the Stetson company.

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