How to Use This List
Most men's haircuts are a combination of two choices: what happens on the sides (a fade, a taper, an undercut or the same length as the top) and what happens on top (short, textured, swept, long). The names below cover both. Pick one or two, then see how to ask for a haircut to explain it to your barber.
1. Buzz Cut
One short length all over, cut with clippers. The lowest-maintenance cut there is. See buzz cuts by face shape.
Read more: Low Taper Fade vs Taper Fade vs Fade: What to Ask For
2. Crew Cut
Short sides and back, slightly longer on top, often with the front a little longer than the crown.
3. Caesar Cut
Short all over with a short, straight fringe brushed forward. Good for receding hairlines.
Read more: How to Ask for a Haircut: What to Tell Your Barber
4. French Crop
A short, textured top with a blunt fringe and faded or tapered sides.
5. Textured Crop
Short sides and a choppy, messy top pushed forward. One of the most popular modern cuts.
6. Ivy League
A longer crew cut, long enough on top to part at the side. Smart and classic.
7. Side Part
A tapered cut with a defined part on one side. A hard part has a line shaved in.
8. Comb Over
The modern version: hair combed to one side over a fade, not over a bald spot.
9. Slick Back
Medium-length hair combed straight back with product, usually with short sides.
10. Pompadour
Long hair on top swept up and back into a high, rounded front. Needs product and a blow-dryer.
11. Quiff
Like a pompadour but shorter and more textured, swept up at the front.
12. Undercut
Very short or shaved sides that don't blend into a longer top.
13. High and Tight
A military cut: sides clipped very short, high up the head, with a short top.
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14. Flat Top
Hair on top cut flat and level, standing up, with short sides. Works best with thick, strong hair.
15. Faux Hawk
Hair styled toward the centre to form a ridge, with the sides left short rather than shaved.
16. Mohawk
A strip of longer hair down the centre with the sides shaved.
17. Mullet
Short at the front and sides, long at the back. Modern mullets are textured and often paired with a fade.
18. Edgar Cut
A blunt, straight-across fringe and a short top with a high fade, popular since the late 2010s.
19. Two-Block
A Korean-origin cut: longer top hair falls over short sides without blending, giving two distinct 'blocks'.
20. Curtains
Medium-length hair parted in the middle and falling to either side, a 1990s favourite that has returned. See middle part hairstyles.
21. Long Flow
Hair grown to the ears or collar and pushed back, sometimes called the 'bro flow'.
22. Man Bun
Long hair tied back into a bun, often with an undercut beneath.
23. Fade
Hair on the sides and back gets shorter from top to bottom, usually down to skin. Low, mid and high fades start at different heights.
24. Taper
A gentler fade that shortens hair gradually and usually keeps some length, finishing at the natural hairline. See fade vs taper.
25. Burst Fade
A fade that curves around the ear in a semicircle, leaving length at the back. Often paired with a mohawk or mullet.
Which One Suits You?
Face shape narrows it down fast: round and square faces suit cuts with short sides and height on top; long faces suit cuts with some side fullness and a fringe; oval faces suit nearly everything. The free face scan in Ollie Stylist ranks haircuts for your measured face shape. See face shapes for men.