2000
#126,400
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Skarie
A Scottish surname possibly derived from an Old Norse personal name or location.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 139 Americans carry the last name Skarie. That puts it at #141,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,465,859 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Skarie surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
139
1 in 2,465,859
Census rank
#141,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
121
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 121 bearers of the surname Skarie in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 141309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Skarie, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Skarie
The surname SKARIE originated in Norway, emerging in the early medieval period around the 11th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "skarri," which means "protruding cliff" or "rocky outcrop." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or was associated with a prominent cliff or rocky area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Icelandic sagas, where a character named Skarie Thorvaldsson is mentioned in the Laxdæla saga, which dates back to the 13th century. This saga chronicles the lives and conflicts of various families in Iceland during the late 10th and early 11th centuries.
In Norway itself, the name appears in several historical records, including the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents. One notable bearer of the name was Skarie Halvorsson, a prominent landowner and chieftain who lived in the Trondheim region in the late 12th century.
As the name spread throughout Scandinavia, variations in spelling began to emerge. In Denmark, the name was sometimes rendered as "Skarre" or "Skærre," while in Sweden, it was often written as "Skärre" or "Skarrie."
One of the earliest known instances of the name in Sweden can be found in the records of the city of Kalmar, where a merchant named Skarie Jonsson is mentioned in a document dated 1412.
Over the centuries, the SKARIE name has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Skarie Simonsen, a Norwegian explorer and navigator who accompanied Jens Munk on his ill-fated expedition to Hudson Bay in 1619-1620. Another notable bearer was Skarie Nielsdatter (1632-1698), a Norwegian landowner and philanthropist who founded several schools and churches in her home region of Telemark.
In the 18th century, the name gained some prominence in Denmark with the birth of Skarie Poulsen (1715-1786), a respected jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge in the Danish Supreme Court.
As the name spread beyond Scandinavia, it also appeared in various forms in other parts of Europe. In Germany, for example, the name was sometimes rendered as "Skaria" or "Skarieh," while in the Netherlands, it was occasionally written as "Skarije" or "Skarijé."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Skarie
Among Census respondents with the surname Skarie, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Skarie bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Skarie surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.9% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Skarie
Skarie appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#141,140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-7 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,740 places
2020
#141,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
+3 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 169 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #126,400 | 125 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #141,140 | 118 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 14,740 places |
| 2020 | #141,309 | 121 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 169 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Skarie surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #141,140 | #141,309 | -0.1% |
| Count | 118 | 121 | 2.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 1.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Skarie bearers went from 118 to 121 (+2.5% change). The surname moved down 169 positions in the national ranking, going from #141,140 to #141,309.
FAQ
Skarie surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Skarie?
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the surname Skarie. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,465,859 residents.
How common is Skarie?
Skarie ranks #141,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 121 people with the surname Skarie. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (139), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Skarie.
Has Skarie become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Skarie went from 118 recorded bearers to 121. That is an increase of 3 (+2.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #141,140 to #141,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Skarie?
Among Census respondents with the surname Skarie, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Skarie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (116 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Skarie appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.9%), Hispanic (2.5%), Two or More Races (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Skarie (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Skarie mean?
A Scottish surname possibly derived from an Old Norse personal name or location. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Skarie (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Skarie?
Want to know how many people have the last name Skarie? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.