Skylan
A unisex name of English origin meaning "from the heavenly meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 754 living Americans carry the first name Skylan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Skylan today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Skylan births was 2016 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Skylan. 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
754
~ 1 in 454,581 Americans
Peak year
2016
55 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,610
Tracked since 1994
Census
Skylan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 544 people with the first name Skylan, which placed it at #19,436 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
#19,436
National first-name rank
People counted
544
544 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Skylan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skylan is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.3%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Skylan 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 Skylan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 269
- Black or African American31.3% · 170
- Two or more races8.6% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Skylan
Skylan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 761 total registrations, 299 (39.3%) were male and 462 (60.7%) were female.
Skylan as a male name
- Ranked #5,610 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (23 births)
Skylan as a female name
- Ranked #7,190 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Skylan on both sides of the split. Of the 544 people counted with this name, 199 were male (36.6%) and 345 were female (63.4%).
Popularity
Skylan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Skylan 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 382 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Skylan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Skylan 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 Skylan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Skylans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Georgia, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Skylan, while Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Skylan
The name Skylan is a relatively modern creation, likely emerging in the late 20th century. It appears to be a combination of the English word "sky" and the suffix "-lan," which is found in some Scandinavian and Germanic names. The origin of this name is unclear, as it does not have a direct connection to any specific language or culture.
Despite its recent origins, the name Skylan has managed to gain some popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 1980s, when a child named Skylan was born in the United States.
Over the years, a few notable individuals have borne the name Skylan. In the world of sports, Skylan Brooks (born 1996) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA. In the field of music, Skylan Mobley (born 1990) is an American record producer and songwriter known for his work with artists like SZA and Kendrick Lamar.
Another prominent individual with the name Skylan is Skylan Irvine Caprina (born 1993), an Australian artist and illustrator known for her whimsical and imaginative works. In the realm of literature, Skylan Deyn is a contemporary American author who has written several novels and short stories.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Skylan in history dates back to the early 20th century. Skylan Brewster (1898-1976) was an American businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to various charitable organizations in his hometown of Seattle, Washington.
While the name Skylan may be relatively new, it has managed to attract a diverse group of individuals from various walks of life. As a unique and distinctive name, it is likely to continue gaining popularity in the years to come, particularly among parents seeking uncommon and meaningful names for their children.
People
Skylan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Skylan 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
Skylan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Skylan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 754 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Skylan 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 454,581 US residents.
Is Skylan a common name?
We classify Skylan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 761 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Skylan most popular?
The single biggest year for Skylan was 2016, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Skylan is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Skylan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 544 people with the name Skylan, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,436 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 Skylan 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 Skylan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Skylan on both sides of the split. Of the 544 people counted with this name, 199 were male (36.6%) and 345 were female (63.4%). 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 Skylan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skylan is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.3%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Skylan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Skylan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (269 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 Skylan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Skylan a female name?
Yes, 60.7% of people registered as Skylan 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 Skylan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Skylan 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 Skylan 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 are named Skylan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.