# When/how did "Skyler" (and variants) become a girls name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311 "2005-11-16T15:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/1 "2005-11-16T15:24:17Z")
Back in high school there was a boy named Schuyler S\*\*\*\*. The first name was pronounced Sky-ler. I believe it is Dutch in origin. Shift to the present and I frequently see the name Skyler or Skylar and it is a girl’s name. Maybe I led a sheltered youth but I’d never heard that name as a female name. Anyone know how this developed? Did some popular soap-opera have a character with this name? That usually causes a storm of babies getting that same name. Same thing with Morgan. I knew a few Morgans in grade school. All boys. There was even Morgan O’Rourke on F-Troop (the TV show). Now all the Morgans are girls. I know there was a Morgaine and a Morgana; fine those even sounds feminine (if that makes sense); so why co-opt the masculine form? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TrivTriv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@TrivTriv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrivTriv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/2 "2005-11-16T16:15:10Z")
A recent article on Slate ([www.slate.com/id/2116505/](http://www.slate.com/id/2116505/)) made the interesting observation that names tend to travel downward on the socioeconomic ladder. A novel name is adopted by wealthy people, and eventually it’s adopted by the less wealthy in emulation, until the rich people don’t want it anymore because it sounds “low class.” Twenty-five years ago, Amber and Heather were “rich” names, and now they have an air of commonality to many people. So I’m going to guess that the popularity of girls’ names like Skyler and Taylor is because many decades ago, it was common among bluebloods to give their daughters family last names as first names. In other words, Skyler was a wealthy surname, than it became a wealthy girls’ first name, and now it’s a first name for girls of all classes. In my estimation. ---
**Author:** ![GillianBoardman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GillianBoardman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GillianBoardman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/3 "2005-11-16T16:30:42Z")
I had many reasons for naming my daughter Morgan, but one of the significant ones was that it did not sound feminine. I liked the idea that she had a name that didn’t shout out her gender first thing. I felt it would go some ways towards leveling the playing field when she grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/4 "2005-11-16T16:37:24Z")
> [@TrivTriv](#): > > So I’m going to guess that the popularity of girls’ names like Skyler and Taylor is because many decades ago, it was common among bluebloods to give their daughters family last names as first names. In other words, Skyler was a wealthy surname, than it became a wealthy girls’ first name, and now it’s a first name for girls of all classes. In my estimation. The question was how or when the name shifted from boys to girls, not from upper class to lower class. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/5 "2005-11-16T16:42:05Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Back in high school there was a boy named Schuyler S\*\*\*\*. The first name was pronounced Sky-ler. I believe it is Dutch in origin. > > Shift to the present and I frequently see the name Skyler or Skylar and it is a girl’s name. Maybe I led a sheltered youth but I’d never heard that name as a female name. > > Anyone know how this developed? Did some popular soap-opera have a character with this name? That usually causes a storm of babies getting that same name. > > Same thing with Morgan. I knew a few Morgans in grade school. All boys. There was even Morgan O’Rourke on F-Troop (the TV show). Now all the Morgans are girls. I know there was a Morgaine and a Morgana; fine those even sounds feminine (if that makes sense); so why co-opt the masculine form? > > Thanks. Morgan IS a girl’s name ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/6 "2005-11-16T16:50:49Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Morgan IS a girl’s name Is today, yes. When I was growing up, it was a surname, used very rarely as a boy’s name. **Schuyler** was a [common Dutch surname](http://www.last-names.net/surname.asp?surname=Schuyler) among New Amsterdam’s colonists, meaning “from the sheltered place,” and cognate with German “Schuler” meaning “scholar,” which is reported as an alternate derivation for the Dutch name as well. Schuyler began to be a given name for boys who had Schuyler ancestry, in that odd old-American-upper-class custom of giving female-line surnames to male offspring. Like many another boy’s name, it then became the “in” thing to give that name to a girl baby. The “Skyler” spelling is that affectation of coming up with a variant spelling, like “Katelynn” for “Caitlin” (which is actually pronounced more like Kathleen). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/7 "2005-11-16T17:03:56Z")
**Rank of “Morgan” as a girl’s name in the U.S.** 2004: 31 2000: 25 1995: 23 1990: 58 1985-1986: Morgan Fairchild is on nigthtime drama _Falcon Crest_. 1985: 127 1980: 243 1973-1977: Morgan Fairchild is on daytime drama _Search for Tomorrow_. 1975 and earlier: Not in top 1,000 names **Rank of “Morgan” as a boy’s name in the U.S.** 2004: 312 2000: 332 1995: 236 1990: 277 1985: 300 1980: 291 1975: 276 1971: Morgan Freeman plays Easy Reader on _The Electric Company_. 1970: 446 1965: 535 1960: 498 1955: 516 _Source:_ Social Security Administration ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/8 "2005-11-16T17:11:35Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The question was how or when the name shifted from boys to girls, not from upper class to lower class. trivtriv was suggesting that it did not, that it originally shifted from a surname to a girl’s name. It may not be a factual response, but I don’t think you can call him for not answering the question when he (or she?) points out a hidden assumption in the question that may keep it from having a literal answer. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/9 "2005-11-16T17:18:31Z")
**Rank of Skylar/Skyler as a girl’s name in the U.S.** 2004: 155 / 310 2000: 135 / 250 1995: 386 / 540 1990: 563 / 738 1989 and earlier: Not among top 1,000 names. **Rank of Skylar/Skyler/Schuyler as a boy’s name in the U.S.** 2004: 471 / 236 / na 2000: 356 / 229 / na 1995: 408 / 223 / na 1990: 465 / 301 /na 1985: 668 / 431 / 863 1980 and earlier: Not among top 1,000 names. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/10 "2005-11-16T18:18:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > **Rank of Skylar/Skyler as a girl’s name in the U.S.** > … > 1990: 563 / 738 > 1989 and earlier: Not among top 1,000 names. > … So what happened in '88 or '89 to cause the big change? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/11 "2005-11-16T18:28:16Z")
The female character Skylar Evans (1989-1991) on the daytime drama _The Young and the Restless_. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/12 "2005-11-16T18:30:14Z")
Skyler seems like it would be part of two long-standing naming trends: [androgynous boys’ names tend to become girls’ names](http://www.babynamewizard.com/blog/2005/01/ray-of-hope-for-courtney-and-leslie.html) over time, and surnames make popular first names (here’s a [link to a smallish PDF](http://www.babynamewizard.com/BabyNameWizard-LastNamesFirst.pdf)). But it also looks like it’s mighty popular with both boys and girls these days – plug it into that site’s [NameVoyager](http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html) and see the trend in action. (The site doesn’t just mention it’s overall popularity – it includes how many babies per million get that name.) ---
**Author:** ![TrivTriv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@TrivTriv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrivTriv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-how-did-skyler-and-variants-become-a-girls-name/331311/13 "2005-11-16T19:17:13Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > trivtriv was suggesting that it did not, that it originally shifted from a surname to a girl’s name. It may not be a factual response, but I don’t think you can call him for not answering the question when he (or she?) points out a hidden assumption in the question that may keep it from having a literal answer. Yes, thank you, that is what I meant to say. Sorry if I didn’t spell it out. (And it is “he.”)