Skylar
Feminine · Dutch roots · “From the Dutch surname Schuyler”
Skylar is given to both — 87,442 girls and 18,274 boys since 1880. See Skylar as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Skylar began as a Dutch surname, Schuyler, carried to the Hudson Valley by settlers of New Netherland and later respelled by American ears until the word "sky" showed through it. That respelling is why it reads aloud on first sight, and why the short form Sky arrives without anyone having to invent it.
How old is the name Skylar?
Skylar first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Skylar is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 86,500 people named Skylar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Skylar most popular?
Skylar peaked in 2015, reaching #42 nationally. Today it ranks #167, 125 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Skylar appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Schuyler (Dutch surname) to Skylar
The story of Skylar
The Schuylers were a prominent Dutch family in colonial New York, and like many Dutch surnames of the Hudson Valley the name was gradually respelled to match English spelling habits — Schuyler to Skyler to Skylar. American parents began using surnames as first names in earnest through the twentieth century, and this one arrived as part of that wave, helped by a spelling that looks like an ordinary English word. It reached girls and boys along the same single road, since a surname carries no gender of its own, though in current US records the -ar spelling leans strongly to girls and -er keeps more of the boys. The songwriter Skylar Grey gave the girls' spelling a visible adult bearer just as it was climbing.
Meaningscholars disagree
From the Dutch surname Schuyler — read either as "scholar" or as "shelter, one who takes cover"
Two readings compete for Schuyler. One connects it to Dutch schuilen, "to shelter, to take cover"; the other to a word for scholar or schoolmaster. Neither has won. Worth adding: the modern spelling with -sky- is an English reshaping, not an older root — the sky in Skylar is a happy accident of transliteration rather than an etymology.
Cultural footprint
Skylar Grey (b. 1986) — Songwriter behind Eminem and Rihanna hits
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- SchuylerDutch surname
- SchuylerAmerican given name
- Skyler
- Skylar
Related forms: Schuyler · Skyler · Schuyler
Pronouncing Skylar
SKY-lar
Two syllables, stress on the first. The pronunciation is the same for Skylar, Skyler and Schuyler — only the spelling changes.
Nicknames for Skylar
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
- 1974
- Most girls named
- 20155,295 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #42reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −17.2%1,818 in 2025, from 2,195
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.
Skylar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Schuyler in Dutch — related form
- Skyler in English — spelling variant
- Schuyler in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Skylars among us
people named Skylar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 884 born in 2025 was named Skylar
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 Diana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Skylar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Diana climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Diana's path sketches the road Skylar is walking now.
Skylar is coming down from a big peak (#42 in 2015). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Skylar is headed
Skylar is easing off slowly — about 22% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Skylar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Skylar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Reads correctly at first sight for English speakers: nobody has to be taught how to say it.
- A ready-made short form in Sky, which also works as a standalone name.
- A documented surname line running back to the Dutch of colonial New York, not a recent invention.
- Works for a boy or a girl, since it began as a family name rather than a gendered one.
- Skyler, Schuyler and Skylar all sound identical, so expect to spell it out often. Choosing one and sticking to it is most of the battle.
- The name's rise is recent and its wave is stepping back, which means it reads as belonging to a particular young cohort rather than to any generation before it.
- Boys and girls both carry it, but the -ar spelling now runs mostly to girls in the US; a boy named Skylar will sometimes be assumed a girl on paper.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Skylar to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Skylar? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Skylar
Feminine · Dutch roots · #167 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Skylars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 86,500 people named Skylar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Skylar in 2025?
- Skylar ranks #167 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,818 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Skylar?
- About 1 in every 884 US girls born in 2025 was named Skylar — 1,818 in all.
- Will my child share the name Skylar with classmates?
- Skylar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Skylar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Isabelle#166 · Ailani#168 · Blair#169 · Nevaeh#165 · Ashley#164 · Gemma#170 · Anastasia#163 · Rosalie#171
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Skylar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Skylar and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle