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Sidney

Heart
French
"Saint Denis"

Sidney Origin and Meaning

The name Sidney is a boy's name of French, English origin meaning "Saint Denis".

A contraction name, Sidney comes from Saint Denis and is related to Dioynsius, the Greek god of fertility and wine, although another theory is that it derived from an Anglo-Saxon place name, meaning 'at the wide island.'

Sidney is an aristocratic British surname--as in the Elizabethan poet George Sidney-- and later attained a further measure of distinction through its association with the self-sacrificing hero of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, Sidney Carton, and with Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier.

In the US, Sidney was most popular in the 19-teens, when it was in the Top 100 for that decade, but has gradually declined, especially after the girl's name Sydney burst into popularity in the 1990's.

# 961 in the US

Sidney Rank in US Top 1000

# 466 on Nameberry

Sidney Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Sidney Popularity

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Famous People Named Sidney

  • Sidney Arthur LumetAmerican film director
  • Sidney PoitierAmerican actor
  • Sidney SheldonAmerican TV writer and novelist
  • Sidney ColemanAmerican theoretical physicist
  • Sidney BechetAmerican jazz saxophonist
  • Sidney James Webb1st Baron Passfield, former British secretary of state
  • Sidney Robert NolanAustralian painter
  • Sidney AltmanCanadian,American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner
  • Sidney Patrick CrosbyCanadian ice hockey player
  • Sidney Selby IIIknown as Desiigner, American rapper

Sidney in Pop Culture

  • Sidney Chambersprotagonist in James Runcie's "Grantchester" novels and PBS' Mystery series "Grantchester"
  • Sidney Mussburgercharacter in "The Hudsucker Proxy"
  • Sidney Glasscharacter on TV's "Once Upon a Time"
  • Sidney "Sid" Jenkinscharacter on British TV series "Skins"
  • Sidney Freedmanpsychiatrist on the TV series M*A*S*H
  • Sidney Falcolead character in the 1957 film "Sweet Smell of Success"