Sidney
About Sidney
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.
Pronounced SID-nee.
As of October 2026, Sidney ranked #1327 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #80 in 1912, Nameberry popularity #640.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,141 | 167 | 86.9 |
| 2015 | #1,088 | 180 | 93.9 |
| 2016 | #1,026 | 196 | 103.3 |
| 2017 | #1,102 | 177 | 95.6 |
| 2018 | #1,149 | 168 | 92.5 |
| 2019 | #1,116 | 176 | 98.1 |
| 2020 | #1,164 | 166 | 96.2 |
| 2021 | #1,393 | 132 | 75.5 |
| 2022 | #1,203 | 166 | 95.1 |
| 2023 | #1,232 | 160 | 93.5 |
| 2024 | #1,374 | 137 | 79.5 |
| 2025 | #1,327 | 146 | 85.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Sidney.
- Clyde
- Winston
- Floyd
- Wallace
- Chester
- Stanley
- Rudy
- Montgomery
- Monty
- Franklin
- Clifford
- Ralph
- Angus
- Hal
- Fitzgerald
- Freddie
- Phinneas
- Morris
- Truman
- Murray
Sidney on lists
Famous Sidneys
- 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
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"
Variations & nicknames
- SidonioSpanish