Scott

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Scott is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name751K records spelled Scott16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian

  Also written S'Cott, Scött, Šcôťť, Scòtt, Śćóțț

• a separate given name408K records spelled Scott2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

• Polish given name38K records spelled Scott14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: Polish, Croatian, Bulgarian

  Also written Skot, Скот, Сцотт

• Greek given name32K records spelled Scott4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Skott, Σκοτ, Skot

87 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Scott is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from OE Scott, originally 'an Irishman', later 'a Gael from Scotland', or from the personal name Scott; first attested Uchtred filius Scot c124 Black (Selkirk)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, From Scot, originally a Gael/Irish person; later applied in the south as a surname, strongly associated with the Borders from the 13th century.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, Scotland or, more commonly, for a Gaelic-speaker within Scotland. The Gaelic-speaking peoples in Scotland came originally from Ireland, and it is possible that their name is connected with OW ysgthru to cut, carve, referring to their habit of tatooing themselves with iron points. Vars.: Skidmore, Skitmore

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In English, An English ethnic surname transferred from the nickname for someone with Scottish ancestry.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Scott är ett engelskt släktnamn (ursprungligen ett binamn ’skotten, den skotske’) som också används som förnamn. Det var mycket populärt i USA på 1960- och 70-talet. En känd namnbärare är den amerikanske författaren Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Scott Joplinb. 1868USAmerican composer, musician, pianist (1867/68-1917)
• Francis Scott Fitzgeraldb. 1896USAmerican writer (1896–1940)
• Scott Kellyb. 1964USAmerican astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
• Bill Goldbergb. 1966USnot in their usual nameAmerican professional wrestler and football player (born 1966)
• Scott Morrisonb. 1968AUPrime Minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022
• MacKenzie Scottb. 1970USAmerican philanthropist and novelist
• Scott Stokedb. 1973CACanadian voice actor
• Chris Murphyb. 1973USnot in their usual nameAmerican lawyer and politician (born 1973)
• Scott Caanb. 1976USAmerican actor (born 1976)
• Scott BuckleyAUAustralian composer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,279 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Scott?

We estimate roughly 659 thousand people bear Scott (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Scott have the most bearers?

We estimate about 655 thousand people bear Scott in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled scott.

How common is Scott compared with other names?

In the United States, Scott is the 38th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Scott a male or female name?

Scott is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Scott mean?

Recorded meaning: ‘(Gaelic-speaking) person from Scotland’