Sydney
A feminine name of French origin meaning "from Saint-Denis".
Name Census estimates that about 175,906 living Americans carry the first name Sydney. It sits at #288 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (95.0% of registrations). The average person named Sydney today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sydney births was 2000 (10,369 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sydney. 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.
Key insights
- • Sydney started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
176K
~ 1 in 1,949 Americans
Peak year
2000
10,369 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#288
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Sydney
Sydney leans heavily female at 95.0% of total registrations, but 9,383 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sydney as a male name
- Ranked #4,292 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (205 births)
Sydney as a female name
- Ranked #288 in 2024
- 1,097 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (10,243 births)
Popularity
Sydney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sydney from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 77,286 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sydney 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 Sydney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sydneys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sydney, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,473 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sydney
The name Sydney has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the 9th century AD. It is derived from the Old English words "Sið" meaning "path" or "journey" and "ēg" meaning "island" or "dry ground." The combination of these words is thought to have formed the place name "Sið-ēg," referring to an area of dry ground along a path or route.
The name Sydney is believed to have first emerged as a surname, with one of the earliest recorded instances being in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was listed as "Sydenye." This surname likely referred to someone who lived near a particular location called "Sið-ēg," which may have been a settlement or a landmark along a well-traveled path.
As a given name, Sydney gained popularity in the late Middle Ages, particularly in England. One of the earliest known individuals with the name Sydney was Sir William Sidney (c.1482-1554), a prominent English courtier and politician during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Another notable figure was Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), an English poet, courtier, and soldier who was celebrated for his literary works, including the pastoral romance "Arcadia."
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Sydney became associated with nobility and aristocracy in England. Several members of the influential Sidney family held titles and positions of power, such as Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (1563-1626), and Algernon Sidney (1623-1683), a prominent political theorist and opponent of absolute monarchy.
In the 18th century, Sydney Parkinson (1745-1771) was a notable Scottish botanical illustrator who accompanied Captain James Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific. His detailed drawings and descriptions of the flora and fauna encountered during the expedition contributed significantly to the study of natural history.
Another famous bearer of the name was Sydney Smith (1771-1845), an English writer, philosopher, and Anglican cleric known for his wit and humor. He was a co-founder of the influential "Edinburgh Review" and a prominent social reformer of his time.
Throughout history, the name Sydney has been borne by various individuals from different walks of life, including writers, artists, politicians, and military figures. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it remains a respected and well-recognized name with a rich historical legacy.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sydney
People
Sydney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sydney 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
Sydney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sydney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 175,906 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sydney 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 1,949 US residents.
Is Sydney a common name?
We classify Sydney as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 186,796 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sydney most popular?
The single biggest year for Sydney was 2000, when 10,369 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sydney is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sydney a female name?
Yes, 95.0% of people registered as Sydney 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.