# Sidney (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sidney/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “wide”, “island” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsɪdni/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Sid |
| Variant spellings | Sydney, Cydney, Sydnie, Sydne, Cidny |
| US babies named this | 108,987 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 84,202 / 24,785 (23% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 5,484, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English *Sīdaneġ, the name of a place in Surrey, from sīd (“wide”) + eġ (“island”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 413 | 681 |
| 2012 | 323 | 832 |
| 2013 | 282 | 908 |
| 2014 | 295 | 916 |
| 2015 | 270 | 1,002 |
| 2016 | 260 | 1,021 |
| 2017 | 225 | 1,122 |
| 2018 | 215 | 1,140 |
| 2019 | 179 | 1,290 |
| 2020 | 141 | 1,515 |
| 2021 | 164 | 1,351 |
| 2022 | 165 | 1,394 |
| 2023 | 128 | 1,634 |
| 2024 | 117 | 1,742 |
| 2025 | 105 | 1,878 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 231 | 894 |
| 2012 | 226 | 919 |
| 2013 | 210 | 954 |
| 2014 | 167 | 1,141 |
| 2015 | 180 | 1,088 |
| 2016 | 196 | 1,026 |
| 2017 | 177 | 1,103 |
| 2018 | 168 | 1,150 |
| 2019 | 177 | 1,115 |
| 2020 | 166 | 1,164 |
| 2021 | 132 | 1,393 |
| 2022 | 166 | 1,203 |
| 2023 | 160 | 1,233 |
| 2024 | 137 | 1,380 |
| 2025 | 146 | 1,327 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 12 | 2,150 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,969 |
| 2013 | 10 | 2,460 |
| 2014 | 12 | 2,203 |
| 2015 | 8 | 2,945 |
| 2016 | 10 | 2,547 |
| 2017 | 7 | 3,229 |
| 2018 | 13 | 2,090 |
| 2019 | 22 | 1,389 |
| 2020 | 15 | 1,846 |
| 2021 | 27 | 1,224 |
| 2022 | 28 | 1,180 |
| 2023 | 39 | 906 |
| 2024 | 30 | 1,128 |
| 2025 | 25 | 1,271 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 185 | 259 |
| 2012 | 211 | 240 |
| 2013 | 222 | 233 |
| 2014 | 208 | 252 |
| 2015 | 249 | 230 |
| 2016 | 224 | 242 |
| 2017 | 223 | 242 |
| 2018 | 245 | 215 |
| 2019 | 247 | 206 |
| 2020 | 252 | 201 |
| 2021 | 319 | 168 |
| 2022 | 266 | 195 |
| 2023 | 248 | 199 |
| 2024 | 224 | 220 |
| 2025 | 247 | 203 |

## People named Sidney

- Sidney Poitier, Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)
- Sidney Lumet, American director, producer and screenwriter (1924–2011)
- Sidney Sheldon, American writer (1917–2007)
- Sidney Altman, Canadian American molecular biologist (1939-2022)
- Sidney Govou, French footballer (born 1979)
- Sidney Crosby, Canadian ice hockey player
- Sidney Bechet, American jazz musician
- Sidney Webb, English socialist economist, 1859–1947 (1859–1947)
- Sidney Sam, German association football player
- Sidney Nolan, Australian artist (1917–1992)
- Sidney Howard, American playwright (1891–1939)
- Sidney Lanier, American musician and poet (1842–1881)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.