Skippy
A diminutive of the given name "Skip", deriving from nicknames of Robert.
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Skippy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Skippy today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Skippy births was 1950 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Skippy. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Skippy is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Skippys were born before 1964.
People living today
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
1950
25 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1980 SSA rank
#7,157
Tracked since 1933
Census
Skippy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 203 people with the first name Skippy, which placed it at #38,074 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
#38,074
National first-name rank
People counted
203
203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Skippy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skippy is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Skippy 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 Skippy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.8% · 158
- Black or African American8.9% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 10
- Two or more races4.9% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Skippy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Skippy from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 98 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Skippy 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 Skippy 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 Skippy
The given name Skippy originated in the mid-20th century as a playful nickname or diminutive form of the name "Skip". The name Skip itself is believed to have derived from the English verb "to skip", referring to the act of leaping or jumping. While the exact origins of Skippy as a standalone name are unclear, it gained popularity through its association with various fictional characters and real-life individuals.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Skippy as a name can be traced back to the 1920s, when it appeared in the comic strip "Percy Crosby's Skip". The central character, a young boy named Skippy Skinner, became a beloved figure and helped popularize the name. Another significant contributor to the name's recognition was the 1933 novel "Skippy" by Percy Crosby, which further introduced the character to a wider audience.
In the realm of sports, Skippy is perhaps most famously associated with Walter "Skippy" Roediger, an American baseball player born in 1920. Roediger played for several Major League Baseball teams, including the St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers, during his career spanning the 1940s and 1950s.
Another notable individual with the name Skippy was Philip "Skippy" Pearce, a British actor born in 1925. Pearce gained recognition for his roles in various films and television series, including the popular sitcom "Please Sir!" in the 1960s.
In literature, Skippy has also made its mark, notably through the character Skippy Skinner in the 1999 novel "The Life of Skippy" by Australian author Paul Murray. The book, set in an Irish boarding school, explored themes of adolescence and friendship.
Additionally, the name Skippy has been used in various other forms of media, such as the animated television series "The Adventures of Skippy" from the 1960s, which followed the adventures of a mischievous kangaroo named Skippy.
While the name Skippy may have started as a playful nickname, it has evolved into a distinct given name over time, embraced by individuals across various fields and cultures. Its enduring presence in literature, sports, and popular culture highlights its lasting appeal and the unique stories and personalities associated with this moniker.
People
Skippy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Skippy 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
Skippy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Skippy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Skippy 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 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Skippy a common name?
We classify Skippy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Skippy most popular?
The single biggest year for Skippy was 1950, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Skippy is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Skippy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 203 people with the name Skippy, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,074 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 Skippy 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 Skippy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Skippy on both sides of the split. Of the 196 people counted with this name, 155 were male (79.1%) and 41 were female (20.9%). 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 Skippy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Skippy is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Skippy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Skippy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.8% (158 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 Skippy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Skippy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Skippy 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 Skippy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Skippy 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 Skippy 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 Skippy?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.