Erskine
Masculine
One man with this name wrote the first modern spy novel, more or less invented the genre, and was shot by a firing squad twenty years later on the other side of an argument about Ireland. He shook hands with every member of the squad first.
How old is the name Erskine?
Erskine first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Erskine alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 1,000 people named Erskine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Erskine most popular?
Erskine peaked in 1921, reaching #1026 nationally. See the whole 1921 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Erskine
The place name has resisted translation for a very long time. The area sits where Brythonic, Gaelic and later Scots all had a turn, and a name passed through three languages can end up preserving sounds from the first while meaning nothing in any of them. Attempts to derive it from words for a green rise, from a projecting height, and from a word for a knife have all been made and none has stuck. That is a more honest position than most pages take: a great many Scottish place names have confident translations attached to them that turn out, on inspection, to be Victorian guesswork.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Renfrewshire place the surname comes from is well documented and its name is not. Proposals exist and none has been generally accepted, which is common with place names in that part of Scotland, where several languages have overlaid one another.
Pronouncing Erskine
URS-kin
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The final e is silent and the ending is short rather than rhyming with wine.
Nicknames for Erskine
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1898
- Most boys named
- 192146 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1026reached in 1921
- Change vs 2007
- 0.0%5 in 2011, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Erskines among us
people named Erskine are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Erskine sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is genuinely distinctive without containing a difficult sound.
- It belongs to the Scottish surname-name tradition, which travels well.
- The spelling is unusual and still gives no trouble once heard.
- The final syllable invites a long i from readers meeting it cold.
- No meaning can be given, because the place name has never been translated.
- The generation that used it in America is now elderly.
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Erskine
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Erskines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Erskine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Erskine in 2025?
- Erskine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Erskine with classmates?
- Erskine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Edward#224 · Eric#273 · Ethan#24 · Eugene#943 · Elijah#7 · Ernest#1038 · Earl#2230 · Evan#153
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Erskine? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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