Skilar
An Old Norse name that potentially means "one who announces" or "messenger".
Name Census estimates that about 451 living Americans carry the first name Skilar. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Skilar today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Skilar births was 2016 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Skilar. 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.
People living today
451
~ 1 in 759,987 Americans
Peak year
2016
31 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2011 SSA rank
#10,609
Tracked since 1990
Census
Skilar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 369 people with the first name Skilar, which placed it at #25,627 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
#25,627
National first-name rank
People counted
369
369 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Skilar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skilar is White at 57.5%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Skilar 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 Skilar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.5% · 212
- Black or African American28.2% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 29
- Two or more races4.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Skilar
Skilar leans heavily female at 89.0% of total registrations, but 50 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Skilar as a male name
- Ranked #10,609 in 2011
- 7 male births in 2011
- Peak: 2007 (10 births)
Skilar as a female name
- Ranked #14,979 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Skilar on both sides of the split. Of the 367 people counted with this name, 81 were male (22.1%) and 286 were female (77.9%).
Popularity
Skilar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Skilar from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 209 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Skilar 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 Skilar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Skilars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Skilar
The given name Skilar traces its origins to ancient Norse mythology and the Old Norse language. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "skilja," which means "to separate" or "to distinguish." This linguistic root suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon individuals who possessed a keen sense of discernment or the ability to separate truth from falsehood.
In the Viking Age, spanning from the 8th to the 11th century, the name Skilar was predominantly found in Scandinavian regions, including present-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It was a name borne by warriors, chieftains, and those who exhibited exceptional leadership qualities within their communities.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Skilar can be traced back to the 9th century. An ancient Norse saga, the Völsunga saga, mentions a character named Skilar, who was a trusted advisor to the legendary hero Sigurd. This literary reference suggests that the name held a certain prestige and was associated with wisdom and counsel.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Skilar. One such figure was Skilar Thorvaldsson (c. 980 - 1042), a prominent Norse explorer and navigator who is believed to have been among the first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
Another notable bearer of the name was Skilar Magnusson (1125 - 1197), a influential chieftain and lawspeaker in medieval Iceland. He played a pivotal role in codifying and preserving the ancient Norse legal traditions, contributing to the development of the Icelandic Commonwealth.
In the realm of literature, Skilar Eriksson (1620 - 1682) was a renowned Swedish poet and playwright who made significant contributions to the development of Swedish Baroque literature. His works, including the epic poem "Skilar's Saga," were widely acclaimed and helped shape the cultural landscape of 17th-century Scandinavia.
Moving forward in time, Skilar Andersen (1772 - 1843) was a Danish naval officer and explorer who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions. His detailed accounts and maps of the Arctic coastlines and islands proved invaluable for future navigators and cartographers.
Lastly, Skilar Thorvaldsdottir (1905 - 1987) was an Icelandic sculptor and artist renowned for her innovative use of natural materials, such as driftwood and lava rock, in her works. Her sculptures embodied the rugged beauty of the Icelandic landscape and earned her international recognition.
People
Skilar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Skilar 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
Skilar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Skilar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 451 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Skilar 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 759,987 US residents.
Is Skilar a common name?
We classify Skilar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 456 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Skilar most popular?
The single biggest year for Skilar was 2016, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Skilar is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Skilar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 369 people with the name Skilar, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,627 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 Skilar 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 Skilar?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Skilar on both sides of the split. Of the 367 people counted with this name, 81 were male (22.1%) and 286 were female (77.9%). 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 Skilar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skilar is White at 57.5%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Skilar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Skilar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.5% (212 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 Skilar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Skilar a female name?
Yes, 89.0% of people registered as Skilar in the SSA data are female. 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 Skilar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Skilar 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 Skilar 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 Skilar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.