Scotty
A diminutive form of the Scottish name Scott, derived from a residential surname.
Name Census estimates that about 16,840 living Americans carry the first name Scotty. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Scotty today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Scotty births was 1971 (1,133 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Scotty. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Scotty with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Scotty is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 331 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 20,354 Americans
Peak year
1971
1,133 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,769
Tracked since 1915
Census
Scotty in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,756 people with the first name Scotty, which placed it at #2,106 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,106
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,756 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scotty
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scotty is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Scotty described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Scotty at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 10,614
- Black or African American7.8% · 992
- Two or more races3.3% · 426
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 410
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 172
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 142
Gender
Gender distribution for Scotty
Scotty leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 331 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Scotty as a male name
- Ranked #1,769 in 2024
- 93 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1971 (1,118 births)
Scotty as a female name
- Ranked #4,992 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Scotty leans strongly male. 12,534 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 216 female bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Scotty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Scotty from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 6,133 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Scotty by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Scotty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Scottys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Scotty, while Idaho, Montana, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 400 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Scotty
The name Scotty is a diminutive form of the Scottish name Scott, which is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word 'Scoti'. The Scoti were an ancient Celtic people who migrated from Ireland to the region now known as Scotland during the late Roman period. Their name was originally attributed to the Gaelic word 'Scuit', meaning 'wanderer' or 'raider'.
The earliest recorded use of the name Scott can be traced back to the 12th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Richard le Scot, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland in 1198. The name Scott gained popularity in Scotland during the Middle Ages, and it was often associated with Scottish nobility and clans.
In literary works, the name Scotty is mentioned in the works of Sir Walter Scott, a renowned Scottish novelist, poet, and playwright from the 19th century. Scott's novels, such as 'Ivanhoe' and 'Rob Roy', helped popularize Scottish culture and literature.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Scotty is James "Scotty" Doohan, a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the original Star Trek television series and movies. Doohan was born in 1920 and passed away in 2005.
Another notable Scotty was Charles "Scotty" Bowman, a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who led the Montreal Canadiens to five Stanley Cup victories. Bowman was born in 1933 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in National Hockey League history.
In the world of music, Scott "Scotty" Moore was an American guitarist who played a pivotal role in the early career of Elvis Presley. Moore, born in 1931, was part of Presley's original backing band and played on many of his hit recordings in the 1950s.
Scotty Pippen, born in 1965, is a former professional basketball player who was a key member of the Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990s. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, helped the Bulls win six NBA championships.
In sports broadcasting, Scotty Connal was a renowned Scottish football commentator who covered numerous major tournaments, including several FIFA World Cups. Connal, who lived from 1949 to 2006, was known for his distinctive voice and passionate delivery.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Scotty
People
Scotty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Scotty as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Scotty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Scotty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,840 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Scotty going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 20,354 US residents.
Is Scotty a common name?
We classify Scotty as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Scotty most popular?
The single biggest year for Scotty was 1971, when 1,133 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Scotty is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Scotty in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,756 people with the name Scotty, or 4.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,106 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Scotty in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Scotty?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Scotty leans strongly male. 12,534 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 216 female bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Scotty?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scotty is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Scotty most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Scotty in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (10,614 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Scotty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Scotty a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Scotty in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Scotty still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Scotty in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Scotty can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Scotty?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.