Baby Name Saskia: Sharp and Lovely

The baby name Saskia is sharp and lovely, an unexpected girls’ name that might be just right for a daughter.

Thanks to Ellen for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

SAXONS

A group of Germanic peoples, the Saxons lived near the North Sea in Germany during the Middle Ages.

Dig into the etymology of Saxon, and you find yourself at the point of a knife. The Old English seax and Old German sachs referred to a specific type of dagger used by the Saxons.

The baby name Saskia fails to appear in the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, but similar names do. There’s Sassa and Sasso, along with variants like Sassino and Saissa, as well as compound names like Saxger.

Saxia is often suggested as the original form, but it’s just about unknown today.

Even if Saskia doesn’t appear among the baby girl names used in the medieval era, the German origin seems clear. It means, simply, Saxon woman.

SASKIA VAN UYLENBURGH

One reason the baby name Saskia survives?

The wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.

Born Saskia or Saakje van Uylenburgh, she married legendary seventeenth century painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Serving as his model, her image appears in many of his famous works.

We know more about her than is often true for famous men’s wives. Affluent and educated, Saskia van Uylenburgh waited until 28 to marry. She and Rembrandt enjoyed less than a decade together before her premature death.

The paintings of her likeness, as well as stories about their marriage, have kept the first name Saskia on parents’ radar for generations.

Despite the name’s Dutch heritage and Germanic origins, it is not popular in the Netherlands or Germany today.

It might a question of style. Dutch names in favor today tend to be very brief. Think Liv and Tess, Lotte and Yara.

However, plenty of Dutch women have answered to the name. Model Saskia de Brauw has graced dozens of magazine covers, including many international editions of Vogue. A long list of athletes, politicians, musicians, and other women with the given name Saskia can be found.

Princess Saskia of Hanover is a cousin to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, though she lives a quiet life outside of the spotlight.

AUSTRALIA and the UK

A number of notable women have answered to the name in recent decades.

Australian actor Saskia Burmeister has enjoyed a long career in her native country, with roles in television staples like Home and Away and Blue Heelers. 

There’s also English actor Saskia Reeves, also known for television performances. Perhaps most notably, Reeves appeared in the 2000 mini series Frank Herbert’s Dune, as well as playing a detective in the first season of Luther with Idris Elba.

Reeves’ mother was Dutch, but the name has been more popular in England than elsewhere over the last few decades. It regularly ranked around the 200 mark during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

BY the NUMBERS

In the US, however, the baby girl name Saskia has failed to ever crack the Top 1000.

It first debuted in US data back in 1961, with six births.

The baby name Saskia peaked in 2002, with 38 births.

As of 2021, just 18 girls receiving the name.

Even at its heights of popularity, Saskia remained quite rare.

What explains the 1961 debut or 2002 peak?

It’s not clear.

There’s a well-regarded archive of artwork images, often used by teachers, but it was founded in 1966.

A novel called The Saskiad, a coming of age tale for a teenaged Saskia, was published in 1996.

It is, however a popular choice in Estonia today, recently leaving the Top Ten.

Maybe that’s the best way to think about this name: always on the fringes, familiar, and yet never quite catching on.

STYLISH RARITY

Overall, the baby name Saskia feels like a stylish rarity.

If the origins of Saskia are clear, it’s less certain why the name has never been used in big numbers in the English-speaking world.

Saskia sounds a little like an obscure variant or diminutive form of a more familiar name, like Alexandra. (In fact, some sites suggest a Slavic origin for Saskia, but it seems to be based on similarity to Alexandra nicknames, like Sasha, Sashka, and Sashenka.)

It makes a daring alternative to favorites like Sophia, Olivia, and Amelia. And the connection to Rembrandt’s legacy lends it plenty of artistic flair.

It could shorten to Sassy or Sass, or maybe even Sachi.

In fact, the baby name Saskia seems like a rare find – a feminine name, easily spelled and pronounced, but seldom heard – and with  no real drawbacks.

What do you think of the baby name Saskia?

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on July 12, 2008, and substantially revised and republished on July 9, 2012, and again on June 22, 2022.