Sidney

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.

Sidney Rank in US Top 1000

# 961 in the US

Sidney Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 448 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Sidney

• 448 Nameberry 2025
• 234 Unique 2023
• 192 Unisex 2023
• 199 England 2023
• 491 Germany 2016

20 Names Similar to Sidney

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Sidney.

• Clyde
• Winston
• Clifford
• Rudy
• Franklin
• Wallace
• Morris
• Montgomery
• Chester
• Floyd
• Gordon
• Stanley
• Clive
• Truman
• Monty
• Ralph
• Murray
• Quincy
• Freddie
• Fitzgerald

Famous People Named Sidney

• Sidney Arthur Lumet American film director
• Sidney Poitier American actor
• Sidney Sheldon American TV writer and novelist
• Sidney Coleman American theoretical physicist
• Sidney Bechet American jazz saxophonist
• Sidney James Webb 1st Baron Passfield, former British secretary of state
• Sidney Robert Nolan Australian painter
• Sidney Altman Canadian,American molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner
• Sidney Patrick Crosby Canadian ice hockey player
• Sidney Selby III known as Desiigner, American rapper

The name Sidney in Pop Culture

• Sidney Chambers protagonist in James Runcie's "Grantchester" novels and PBS' Mystery series "Grantchester"
• Sidney Mussburger character in "The Hudsucker Proxy"
• Sidney Glass character on TV's "Once Upon a Time"
• Sidney "Sid" Jenkins character on British TV series "Skins"
• Sidney Freedman psychiatrist on the TV series M*A*S*H
• Sidney Falco lead character in the 1957 film "Sweet Smell of Success"

International Variations of the name Sidney

• Sidonio Spanish