OK. When I Googled Skylar, I found that it’s
Quote:
‘of English origin. Skylar means “noble scholar.” A variant of Schuyler, the name has quite a few other spelling variations out there including Skyler and Skyllar.
Her popularity is hard to gauge given her host of alternative spellings, but the Skylar variation peaked at number 42 in 2015. Parents love her spunky look, her inner Y and Sky- start standing apart from the crowds of vintage classics making a comeback,”
but this is from a U.S. website.
Wikipedia says :
Quote:
The name Skyler or Skylar (/ˈskaɪlər/) is an Anglicized spelling of the surname and given names Schuyler and Schuylar.
Schuyler was introduced into America as a surname by 17th century Dutch settlers arriving in New York.[1] By the 19th century, in honor of members of New York's prominent Schuyler family such as Philip Schuyler, the surname had entered use as a given name; for example, Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885), the 17th Vice President of the United States.
The spellings Skyler and Skylar came into fashion as either a masculine or feminine given name in the United States during the 1980s. As of 2016, both names are more common for females, but Skylar is most strongly associated with females (the 42nd most common name for females and the 761 most common for males born in 2016)[2] than Skyler (the 359 most common name for females and the 414 most common for males born in 2016)[3] The spelling Schuyler ceased to rank among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United States after 1994, when it was at 974th place on the charts.[4]
Good Will Hunting was released in 1997, and Breaking Bad was 2008 and a graph of it’s popularity shows no significant use of the name before 1986. I suspect that it’s use in Good Will Hunting was specifically because the character was a scholar.
So..... although I’m sure there are SOME Skylars in England, it’s likely they’ve been as a result of parents being fans of Good Will Hunting or Breaking Bad, but I’m struggling to find UK stats to support this theory at the moment.
But my contention is that English parents are far less likely to give their children stupid first names, but some thing more quaint, like Mini Driver ............ oh shit.