Syd
A diminutive form of Sydney, derived from an old French place name.
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Syd. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Syd today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Syd births was 1912 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Syd. 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
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
1912
16 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,072
Tracked since 1903
Gender
Gender distribution for Syd
Syd is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 231 total registrations, 151 (65.4%) were male and 80 (34.6%) were female.
Syd as a male name
- Ranked #13,937 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1964 (10 births)
Syd as a female name
- Ranked #5,072 in 1916
- 5 female births in 1916
- Peak: 1912 (16 births)
Popularity
Syd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Syd from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 53 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Syd 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 Syd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Syds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Syd
The given name Syd is a diminutive or shortened form of the name Sidney, which is derived from the Old English place name "Sīdinga-wīc" or "Sīdingbourne". This place name is believed to have originated from the River Sīdingbourne in Kent, England. The name Sidney is thought to have been originally a surname that later transitioned into a first name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sidney dates back to the late 11th century in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Sīdingbourne". Over time, the name evolved into its modern spelling of Sidney.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Sidney was Sir William Sidney (1482-1554), who served as a courtier to King Henry VIII of England.
Another notable historical figure with the name Sidney was Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), an English poet, courtier, and soldier who wrote the influential works "Astrophel and Stella" and "The Defence of Poesy".
In the 17th century, Algernon Sidney (1623-1683) was an English politician, political theorist, and a leading figure in the republican movement during the English Civil War.
The name gained further prominence with the birth of Sidney Smith (1764-1840), an English writer and Anglican cleric who co-founded the Edinburgh Review.
Another famous bearer of the name was Sidney Lanier (1842-1881), an American writer, musician, and academic who is considered one of the greatest American poets of the 19th century.
While the name Sidney has been used for both men and women throughout history, the diminutive form Syd has traditionally been more commonly used as a masculine name.
People
Syd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Syd 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
Syd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Syd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Syd 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Syd a common name?
We classify Syd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Syd most popular?
The single biggest year for Syd was 1912, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Syd is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Syd a male name?
Yes, 65.4% of people registered as Syd in the SSA data are male. 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.