From Old Norse 'skip' meaning ship; originally a nickname for a ship captain or lively person.
Skip is quintessentially mid-century American: a name that wears its era like a varsity jacket. It developed as a short form of Scandinavian-derived "Skipper," meaning the captain of a vessel, which entered English as a term of affectionate address and gradually became a standalone nickname. By the postwar decades Skip was everywhere — the cheerful kid in the neighborhood, the All-American athlete, the friendly neighbor on a sitcom — embodying the optimism and informality of the Eisenhower era.
Not many Skips appear in the historical record before the twentieth century, which makes the name feel almost invented by American popular culture. It shares DNA with other jaunty masculine nicknames of the period — Bud, Chip, Hank, Buzz — names that communicated approachability and refused the stuffiness of the Victorian generation before them. Skip Robinson, Skip Caray (the beloved Atlanta Braves broadcaster), and a handful of jazz musicians kept the name in mild circulation through the latter half of the century.
Today Skip occupies a retro-cool niche. It is old enough to have become rare, and rare enough to feel fresh. Parents who choose it tend to be signaling something — a love of vintage Americana, a preference for brevity, or simply the pleasure of a name that sounds like something is happening. Skip is never still; the word itself contains motion.