Ski
A Scandinavian name derived from the Norwegian word for "ski".
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the first name Ski. It is a predominantly female name (96.1% of registrations). The average person named Ski today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ski births was 2002 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ski. 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
127
~ 1 in 2,698,853 Americans
Peak year
2002
10 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
1989 SSA rank
#9,052
Tracked since 1989
Census
Ski in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 258 people with the first name Ski, which placed it at #32,555 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
#32,555
National first-name rank
People counted
258
258 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ski
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ski is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Ski 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 Ski at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.0% · 111
- Black or African American37.6% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 16
- Two or more races2.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Ski
Ski leans heavily female at 96.1% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ski as a male name
- Ranked #9,052 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
Ski as a female name
- Ranked #12,098 in 2022
- 8 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2002 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ski on both sides of the split. Of the 267 people counted with this name, 98 were male (36.7%) and 169 were female (63.3%).
Popularity
Ski: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ski from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 50 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Ski remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ski 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 Ski during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ski
The given name Ski is a diminutive form of the Scandinavian name Skidi, which has roots in Old Norse and means "bright" or "shining." The name's origins can be traced back to the Viking era, around the 8th to 11th centuries. It was commonly used by the Norse people, who inhabited parts of modern-day Scandinavia, including Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
The name Ski has a strong connection to the ancient Norse mythology and literature. In the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems, there are references to characters with names derived from similar roots, such as Skidbladnir, the name of the magical ship belonging to the god Freyr.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ski was Ski Andersen, a Norwegian explorer and whaler who lived between 1657 and 1719. He was known for his voyages to Svalbard and Greenland, where he explored and mapped the coastlines.
Another notable figure with the name Ski was Ski Eriksen (1838-1912), a Norwegian entrepreneur and industrialist. He founded the Eriksen Mechanical Workshop, which later became one of Norway's largest shipbuilding companies.
In the literary world, Ski Torvingen (1890-1955) was a renowned Norwegian author and poet. He is best known for his works that explored the themes of nature and rural life in Norway.
Moving to the realm of sports, Ski Sundby (born 1983) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who has won multiple medals in international competitions, including the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.
Lastly, Ski Andreassen (born 1971) is a contemporary Norwegian artist and sculptor. His works often incorporate natural elements and explore the relationship between humans and the environment.
While the name Ski may not be as common today as it was in the past, it remains an integral part of Scandinavian cultural heritage, reflecting the region's rich history and connection to nature.
People
Ski + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ski 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
Ski: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ski?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 127 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ski 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 2,698,853 US residents.
Is Ski a common name?
We classify Ski as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ski most popular?
The single biggest year for Ski was 2002, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ski is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ski in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 258 people with the name Ski, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,555 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 Ski 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 Ski?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ski on both sides of the split. Of the 267 people counted with this name, 98 were male (36.7%) and 169 were female (63.3%). 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 Ski?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ski is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Ski most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.0% (111 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 Ski in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ski a female name?
Yes, 96.1% of people registered as Ski 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 Ski still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ski 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 Ski 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 Ski as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Ski, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.