In the UK, “conkers” are the shiny brown seeds of the horse chestnut tree and the playground game played with them. In the US, people most often call the same type of nut horse chestnuts , and in regions where a similar nut is from buckeye trees, they’re called buckeyes instead.

Quick Scoop

  • The thing you pick up:
    • In Britain and Ireland: usually called conkers (the horse chestnut seed).
* In North America: commonly called _horse chestnuts_ ; where true buckeye trees grow (like Ohio), people refer to a similar nut as _buckeyes_.
  • The playground game:
    • In the UK: the game itself is called conkers.
* In the USA: the same game can still be called _conkers_ , but you’ll also hear it described as playing with _buckeyes_ in some areas.

So if you ask “what are conkers called in America,” the closest everyday answer is: they’re generally known as horse chestnuts , and in some places—especially buckeye country—people treat and refer to similar nuts as buckeyes.

TL;DR: Conkers (the seeds) = horse chestnuts in most of the US, and in some regions similar nuts are called buckeyes; the game may still be called conkers or just playing with buckeyes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.