Skai
Feminine · “sky”
Skai is given to both — 1,054 girls and 84 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Skai respells Sky, and the word came from the Old Norse ský — a cloud, not the blue above it.
How old is the name Skai?
Skai first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Skai is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Skai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Skai most popular?
Skai peaked in 2021, reaching #2071 nationally. Today it ranks #2607, 536 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ský to Skai
The story of Skai
Norse ský meant a cloud, and English took it, then quietly promoted it to mean the whole sky while the native heofon retreated to religion. Skye is separately a Hebridean island. Skai is a modern respelling and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
sky; cloud
From the English sky, from the Old Norse ský, 'cloud'. English borrowed it for the cloud and later promoted it to mean the whole heaven, displacing the native heofon. The -ai respelling is modern American. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- ský
- sky
- Skai
Related forms: Sky · Skye
Pronouncing Skai
SKY
One syllable. Skai, Sky and Skye are all homophones.
Nicknames for Skai
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
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 202192 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2071reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −7.0%66 in 2025, from 71
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.
Skai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sky in English — spelling variant
- Skye in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, Georgia.
Skais among us
people named Skai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 24,353 born in 2025 was named Skai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Boni test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Skai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Boni climbed just as high around 1953, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Boni's path sketches the road Skai is walking now.
Skai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Skai is headed
Skai should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Skai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Skai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That 'sky' meant a cloud and displaced 'heaven' is a first-rate word history.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- The meaning is transparent and needs no explanation.
- Sky and Skye are both commoner spellings.
- It will be respelled by other people constantly.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Skai
Feminine · #2607 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Skais 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 Skai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Skai in 2025?
- Skai ranks #2607 among US girl names in 2025, with 66 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Skai?
- About 1 in every 24,353 US girls born in 2025 was named Skai — 66 in all.
- Will my child share the name Skai with classmates?
- Skai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Skai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Navie#2607 · Ellyana#2607 · Atalia#2607 · Maddox#2607 · Henny#2607 · Diane#2607 · Adella#2607 · Delylah#2607
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Skai? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Skai and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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