ninan.org

Sydney

Girls' name · Millennial-era

Living in the US
~178,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#348 among girls
Births in 2025
893 187,700 since 1880
Typical age
23 years, median

Sydney popularity over time

Sydney rank by birth year, 1886–2025Sydney ranked #828 in 1886 and #348 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #23, in 1999.#100#1,000#348best #23 in 199918901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1886–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Sydney was used most in 2000, when 10,369 babies were given the name. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Across the record, 20 years put Sydney in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #348, on 893 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 67%. Year on year the rank dropped by 60.

Babies named Sydney per yearPeaks at 10,369 births in 2000.10,369 in 2000018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Sydney?

Roughly 178,900 Sydneys are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 187,700 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Sydney?

The typical living Sydney is 23 years old. The 2000s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Sydney a millennial-era name.

Your Sydney

Ages of living people named SydneyHalf of living Sydneys are older than 23 and half younger.median 23020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Sydney is most common

Sydney is 3.8× as common in District of Columbia as it is nationally. Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire follow.

Where Sydney is used more than average5 states use the name Sydney more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: 2.0× the national rateNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 2.0× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: 2.0× the national rateCTRhode Island: 2.4× the national rateRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.8× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Sydney is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 102 3.8×
Rhode Island 62 2.4×
Connecticut 214 2.0×
New Hampshire 67 2.0×
Minnesota 399 2.0×

Is Sydney a boy's or a girl's name?

95% girls5% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Across the whole record, 95.0% of births under the name were girls. The name has changed sides: it began mostly on one sex and ends mostly on the other.

Sydney in England and Wales

ONS recorded 173 births named Sydney in 2025, ranking it #295. That is 60% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Sydney comes from

For the surname and given name, see Sidney. The cities in Australia and Canada are named after British politician Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (1733–1800).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Sydney

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Sydney Sweeney American actress 1997 81
Sydney Pollack American film director, producer and actor 1934–2008 77
Sydney Brenner South African-British biologist, Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002 1927–2019 71
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone American hurdler and sprinter 1999 41
Sydney Leroux Canadian-born American soccer player 1990 28
Sydney Chaplin English actor 1885–1965 28
Sydney Greenstreet British-American actor 1879–1954 28
Sydney Smith English wit, writer, Anglican cleric 1771–1845 26
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,276 in 1989 to 2,104 in 1990 — 1.6 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/sydney.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).