Sibley
A variant or diminutive form of Sidney, from an English place name meaning "wide meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Sibley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Sibley today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sibley births was 2017 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sibley. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2017
12 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
1925 SSA rank
#4,130
Tracked since 1917
Gender
Gender distribution for Sibley
Sibley leans heavily female at 86.7% of total registrations, but 18 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sibley as a male name
- Ranked #4,130 in 1925
- 6 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1917 (7 births)
Sibley as a female name
- Ranked #15,052 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2017 (12 births)
Popularity
Sibley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sibley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 71 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sibley by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sibley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sibley
The name Sibley originates from the Old English term "sib," which means "kinsman" or "relative." It is believed to have been derived from the Proto-Germanic word "sibja," meaning "one's own." This name first emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sibley dates back to the 11th century, when it was used as a surname to denote a person's relationship to their family or clan. One of the first known instances of the name appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
In the 12th century, Sibley appeared as a given name in various historical records across England. One notable example is Sibley de Stowe, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1166. This record suggests that the name was already in use as a personal name by this time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Sibley continued to be used, primarily among the English nobility and gentry. One prominent figure who bore this name was Sir Sibley de Walwyn, a knight who fought alongside King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century.
In the 16th century, the name Sibley gained popularity among the English Puritans, who often chose biblical or virtue-based names for their children. One notable Puritan with this name was Sibley Partridge, a prominent merchant and landowner in Massachusetts Bay Colony, born in 1613.
Another noteworthy individual was Sibley Tompkins (1695-1768), an English clergyman and author who wrote several influential works on religious and philosophical topics. His book "The Reasonableness of Christianity" was widely read and debated in the 18th century.
In the 19th century, the name Sibley was carried across the Atlantic by English settlers to North America. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Henry Hastings Sibley (1811-1891), an American military officer and politician who served as the first governor of Minnesota.
Overall, the name Sibley has a rich history spanning several centuries, with roots in the Anglo-Saxon tradition and connections to various notable figures throughout English and American history.
People
Sibley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sibley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sibley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sibley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sibley going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Sibley a common name?
We classify Sibley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sibley most popular?
The single biggest year for Sibley was 2017, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sibley is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sibley a female name?
Yes, 86.7% of people registered as Sibley in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.