Sidney

Boy · Old English place name

Sidney

Say it: SID-nee

Meaning

From an English surname, a place name from Old English sid 'wide' and eg 'island, riverside meadow'. The claim that it comes from Saint Denis is a folk etymology.

Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.

Used as a first name from the 1700s in honour of the Sidney family.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1910s

In the United States

107,564 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1912, about 1 in 429 boys
305 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

American English

The family of the name

Other spellings: Sydney

Famous bearers

Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor
Sir Philip Sidney, Elizabethan poet

Names worth a look

BobbieGirl or boyA pet form of Roberta or Robert, from Germanic hrod 'fame' + berht 'bright'.Modern · peak 1934 · forgotten

EduardoBoyThe Spanish and Portuguese form of Edward, from Old English ēad 'wealth' and weard 'guardian'.Renaissance · peak 2001

LanceBoyUncertain. Possibly from the Germanic name Lanzo (from land 'land'), or taken from Lancelot; the link to the English…Modern · peak 1970

RobertoBoyThe Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Robert, from Germanic hrōd 'fame' and beraht 'bright'.Middle Ages · peak 1981

NolanBoyFrom the Irish surname Ó Nualláin 'descendant of Nuallán', a personal name possibly from nuall 'shout, noble'; the…Modern · peak 2018

NeilBoyFrom Irish Niall, of uncertain meaning; 'champion' and 'cloud' have both been proposed.Middle Ages · peak 1953

StanleyBoyFrom an English surname and place, Old English stan 'stone' and leah 'clearing'.Victorian · peak 1916

SydneyGirlFrom the English surname Sidney, usually from Old English sīd 'wide' and ēg 'island, riverside land'; the derivation…Modern · peak 2000

Where this comes from

United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.