Scott
Feminine · “a Scot”
Scott is given to boys far more often — 774,997 boys against 2,608 girls since 1880. See Scott as a boy name
The Scotti were Irish. Late Roman writers used the word for raiders coming out of Ireland, a group of them settled in what is now Argyll, and over several centuries the name moved with them until it covered the whole country north of the wall — which is why Scotland is named after people who came from somewhere else.
How old is the name Scott?
Scott first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Scott alive today was born around 1972, making them about 53 years old. About 2,400 people named Scott are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Scott most popular?
Scott peaked in 1971, reaching #957 nationally. See the whole 1971 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Scotti to Scott
The story of Scott
In medieval England the surname meant exactly what it says: a man from Scotland, or a Gaelic speaker, given the name by neighbors who noticed. Border families carried it heavily, and it is now one of the commonest surnames in Scotland itself, which is a slight joke — you do not need to say a man is Scottish while he is standing in Scotland. It moved to the front of the name in the twentieth century and became one of the standard American men's names for two decades. Very few English names name a nationality; Scott is the only one in wide use.
Meaning
a Scot
The name is a nationality used as a personal name. What Scotti itself meant is not known; it is a Latin rendering of something the Romans heard, and no reliable etymology survives.
How the name formed
- Scotti
- Scott
Pronouncing Scott
SKOT
One syllable, rhyming with hot. Said the same way everywhere English is spoken.
Nicknames for Scott
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
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 1971133 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #957reached in 1971
- Change vs 1999
- −40.0%6 in 2001, from 10
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.
Scotts among us
people named Scott 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
Scott 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
- One syllable and five letters, with no possible mispronunciation.
- It works well in front of long surnames, where fuller names get crowded.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- Everyone can spell it on first hearing.
- It is strongly associated with the nineteen-sixties and seventies in America.
- It is also a very common surname, so Scott Scott is possible and does happen.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
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What they receive
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Scott
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Scotts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Scott are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Scott in 2025?
- Scott is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Scott with classmates?
- Scott will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Scott? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Scott and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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