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Sydney

Sydney: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“wide island”
Origin
English
Say it
SID-nee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (95% of all uses)

From an English surname and place name, traditionally explained from Old English sid and eg. It is also the standard spelling of the Australian city name.

English namesAmerican namesNames meaning natureNames meaning waterSurname-style namesInternational names

How popular is Sydney?

2024337 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Sydney in 20241,122

2024 rank#288 girls

Peak year2000

Total US babies since 1880186,796

Sydney is fading: recent use is about 36% of its level ten years before.

Names like Sydney

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Sydniwide island · English
  • Sydneewide island · English
  • Oliviaolive tree · English
  • Evelyndesired; little bird · English
  • Harperharp player · English
  • Violetviolet flower · English
  • Hazelhazel tree · English
  • Ellieshort form of names ending in -el or -ella · English

Sydney questions

What does the name Sydney mean?

Sydney means "wide island". It comes from English. From an English surname and place name, traditionally explained from Old English sid and eg. It is also the standard spelling of the Australian city name.

Is Sydney a boy or girl name?

Sydney is mainly a girl's name in US records (95% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Sydney?

1,122 US babies were named Sydney in 2024. Its peak year was 2000.

How do you pronounce Sydney?

Sydney is usually pronounced SID-nee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.