girl's name
Skye
SKY
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 47,492
the United States
#531
2025 births
Skye is a girl's name taken from the Hebridean island, whose own name is disputed between a Gaelic root meaning "winged" and a Norse one meaning "cloud." It ranks 45th in Scotland.
- Skye is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 2014, when 946 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 5,279 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1952.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Skye over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 64 |
| 1960s | 56 |
| 1970s | 861 |
| 1980s | 1,837 |
| 1990s | 4,495 |
| 2000s | 7,360 |
| 2010s | 8,058 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,434 |
What Skye means
Skye has no meaning of its own — it is a place name used as a personal name. The island's name is contested, with winged and cloud the two serious candidates, and the English word sky reinforces the second reading without being its source.
Where Skye comes from
Skye is the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Inner Hebrides, and the island's name has resisted a settled answer. The Gaelic sgiath, a wing, is one candidate and suits the shape of the island's peninsulas; the Old Norse ský, cloud, is another, and Norse rule of the Hebrides lasted four centuries. A third view treats the name as pre-Gaelic and older than either. English speakers hear the ordinary word sky, which comes from that same Norse ský — the word meant cloud in Old Norse and only shifted to the whole firmament in English — and that hearing is most of why the name works. Skye as a given name is recent, part of the same Scottish revival that produced Iona and Eilidh, and it doubles as a nature name for parents outside Scotland who read it as the word rather than the island. The Skye terrier keeps the island name in general circulation.
Skye in use
Skye ranks 45th in Scotland with 83 births in 2024 and 219th in England and Wales, and holds 531st in the United States with 628 births, so it has traveled further than most Scottish revival names. Our records mark it stable with a peak in 2014 and carry it from 1952. It is one of very few Scottish place names that reads as a first name outside Scotland without explanation.
How popular is Skye?
In 2025, Skye was given to 628 babies in the United States, ranking #531 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Skye is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Skye
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Skye also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Skye over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Skye in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Skye
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Skye — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Skye
What does the name Skye mean?
It is the Isle of Skye used as a name. The island's own name is disputed between Gaelic winged and Norse cloud.
Is Skye the same as Sky?
Skye is the island spelling, Sky the word. Both are used as names and the word itself comes from the Norse ský, cloud.
Is Skye a Scottish name?
Yes, and it ranks 45th in Scotland, though it has spread well beyond it.
How popular is Skye?
Forty-fifth in Scotland and 531st in the United States.
Is Skye a girl's or a boy's name?
Skye is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Skye?
Skye has 1 syllable.
Is Skye a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Skye currently ranks #45 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.