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At a Glance: Name: Sidney – Meaning: surname turned given name; either an Old English place name for a 'wide island' or 'wide water-meadow', or, separately, a Norman-French surname from 'St. Denis' – Origin: English (surname, two distinct origins) – Gender: Neutral – Pronunciation: SID-nee
Sidney is a unisex name with two separate surname origins: one is an Old English place name for a 'wide island' or 'wide water-meadow,' and the other comes from the Norman-French surname for St. Denis. You may see it claimed that Sidney simply means 'wide island,' but that's only one of the two origins — the St. Denis line has nothing to do with islands. It's pronounced SID-nee (/ˈsɪdni/).
Meaning & Origin of Sidney
Meaning: Surname turned given name; either an old english place name for a 'wide island' or 'wide water-meadow', or, separately, a norman-french surname from 'st. denis'.
Origin: English (surname, two distinct origins).
A common claim: Means 'wide island' Actually: That's only one of two unrelated surname origins; 'Sidney' can also come from the Norman-French place name St. Denis, which has nothing to do with islands.
Source: Wiktionary, Wikipedia.
How to Pronounce Sidney
Phonetic: SID-nee IPA: /ˈsɪdni/
Popularity of Sidney
Sidney peaked at #80 in 1912, when 1,003 babies were given the name; by 2024 it had fallen to #1374, with just 137 babies.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1880–2024.
Make Sidney Name Art
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Names With a Similar Story
Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names we have no style data for, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.
FAQ
What does the name Sidney mean?
Surname turned given name; either an old english place name for a ‘wide island’ or ‘wide water-meadow’, or, separately, a norman-french surname from ‘st. denis’. (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sidney)
How do you pronounce Sidney?
Sidney is pronounced SID-nee (IPA: /ˈsɪdni/).
Is Sidney a popular name right now?
Sidney peaked at #80 in 1912 and is ranked #1374 as of 2024. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1880–2024.)
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