NameChart

Sidney

Unisex

Sidney has been given to 108,987 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1918.

Meaning & origin /ˈsɪdni/

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

Origin: surnames

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

04709401.409k1.879k 18801900192019401960198020002020 Girls Boys
Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

108,987

Peak year

1918 (1,939 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1880

10-year trend

▼ -44%

Gender split

23% girls / 77% boys

Famous 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)

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Sidney.

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