Unisex name ★ peaked 2000

Sydney

Gender Unisex · 95% girls Rank 2025 #348 Trend ↓ Falling 32%
Rank 2025
#348
among girls · ↓60 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
893
named Sydney · -21% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,841
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2000
10,369 babies
All-time total
187,700
#224 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Sydney popularity over time

187,700 babies have been named Sydney since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.883.755.637.518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 14 137 151 15 – #885
1890s 23 161 184 18 +22% #1,323
1900s 84 215 299 30 +63% #822
1910s 265 1,441 1,706 171 +471% #1,123
1920s 306 1,309 1,615 162 -5% #1,173
1930s 798 827 1,625 163 +1% #635
1940s 1,512 815 2,327 233 +43% #541
1950s 1,522 631 2,153 215 -7% #595
1960s 1,346 504 1,850 185 -14% #762
1970s 929 356 1,285 129 -31% #1,030
1980s 4,587 457 5,044 504 +293% #230
1990s 55,756 1,018 56,774 5,677 +1026% #23
2000s 76,444 844 77,288 7,729 +36% #23
2010s 28,084 506 28,590 2,859 -63% #60
2020s (to 2025) 6,626 183 6,809 1,135 -60% #241

Where Sydney is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 816 0.51 #377
2027 771 0.48 #404
2028 734 0.46 #424
2029 705 0.44 #438
2030 680 0.42 #453

Where Sydney is most popular

Girls named Sydney per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.663 per 1,000. Strongest in District of Columbia, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Sydney born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
District of Columbia 42 3.54 +434%
Rhode Island 32 2.56 +285%
Massachusetts 187 1.55 +133%
South Dakota 22 1.54 +132%
Connecticut 89 1.53 +131%
New Hampshire 27 1.46 +121%
North Dakota 18 1.37 +107%
Minnesota 147 1.36 +105%
Colorado 140 1.25 +89%
West Virginia 32 1.22 +84%
Wisconsin 119 1.16 +74%
Hawaii 13 1.13 +71%
Pennsylvania 260 1.10 +66%
Washington 155 1.07 +62%
New Jersey 183 1.01 +53%
Idaho 32 0.956 +44%
Maryland 101 0.953 +44%
Michigan 171 0.939 +42%
Virginia 158 0.927 +40%
South Carolina 83 0.923 +39%
Oregon 59 0.906 +37%
Missouri 109 0.904 +36%
Kansas 52 0.901 +36%
New York 337 0.851 +28%
North Carolina 191 0.839 +27%
Illinois 191 0.834 +26%
Ohio 192 0.809 +22%
Georgia 183 0.806 +21%
Utah 67 0.805 +21%
Iowa 45 0.770 +16%
Alabama 68 0.724 +9%
Tennessee 113 0.713 +8%
Kentucky 60 0.702 +6%
California 536 0.638 ≈ national
Indiana 89 0.634 ≈ national
Arizona 87 0.620 -6%
Mississippi 29 0.620 -7%
Florida 263 0.615 -7%
Louisiana 51 0.583 -12%
Alaska 5 0.581 -12%
Nevada 26 0.560 -16%
Delaware 6 0.529 -20%
Oklahoma 38 0.516 -22%
Arkansas 27 0.511 -23%
Nebraska 18 0.501 -24%
Texas 384 0.477 -28%
New Mexico 10 0.411 -38%
Maine 6 0.388 -42%
Montana – – –
Vermont – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Sydney

Sydney is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #348 in 2025 with 873 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 187,700 American babies have been named Sydney, about 95% girls and 5% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 2000, when 10,369 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2000s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Sydney stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Sydney?

The median living Sydney is about 23 years old; half are between 17 and 28. An estimated 179 thousand people named Sydney are alive in the United States today.

median 23 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Sydney year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 873 #348 20 #5,021
2024 1,104 #288 26 #4,179
2023 1,003 #307 37 #3,279
2022 1,169 #272 31 #3,680
2021 1,231 #249 38 #3,169
2020 1,246 #241 31 #3,559
2019 1,535 #197 40 #3,044
2018 1,757 #164 36 #3,229
2017 2,013 #146 40 #3,000
2016 2,322 #135 47 #2,656
2015 2,660 #122 50 #2,522
2014 2,855 #109 50 #2,511
2013 3,177 #98 51 #2,454
2012 3,456 #78 53 #2,410
2011 3,974 #65 66 #2,051
2010 4,335 #60 73 #1,936
2009 5,061 #48 59 #2,249
2008 5,264 #49 81 #1,821
2007 6,032 #37 66 #2,089
2006 6,516 #34 73 #1,871
2005 7,376 #30 76 #1,751
2004 8,368 #27 101 #1,412
2003 8,911 #25 77 #1,643
2002 9,034 #23 76 #1,606
2001 9,639 #23 109 #1,229
2000 10,243 #23 126 #1,120
1995 7,360 #43 103 #1,131
1990 2,028 #150 76 #1,276
1985 440 #479 35 #1,757
1980 130 #1,086 27 #2,047
1975 93 #1,239 28 #1,780
1970 103 #1,139 58 #1,078
1965 167 #768 50 #1,053
1960 128 #944 51 #1,097
1955 134 #841 48 #1,090
1950 202 #595 78 #777
1945 132 #639 88 #648
1940 85 #761 68 #748
1935 94 #690 79 #677
1930 29 #1,456 82 #691
1925 25 #1,742 129 #542
1920 30 #1,505 177 #456
1915 27 #1,400 172 #413
1910 15 #1,204 42 #420
1905 21 #822 28 #409
1900 – – 13 #729
1895 – – 24 #397
1890 6 #1,323 11 #626
1885 – – 25 #354
1880 – – 12 #560

Famous people named Sydney

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Sydney Sweeney Sydney Sweeney American actress (born 1997) Contemporary
  2. 2 Sydney Pollack Sydney Pollack American filmmaker and actor (1934–2008) Contemporary
  3. 3 Sydney Tamiia Poitier Sydney Tamiia Poitier American-Canadian actress (born 1973) Contemporary
  4. 4 Sydney Chaplin Sydney Chaplin American actor (1926– 2009) Contemporary
  5. 5 Sydney Greenstreet Sydney Greenstreet British and American actor (1879–1954) 19th century
  6. 6 Sydney Chaplin Sydney Chaplin English actor (1885–1965) 19th century
  7. 7 Sydney Leroux Sydney Leroux American soccer player (born 1990) Contemporary
  8. 8 Sydney Brenner Sydney Brenner South African biologist and Nobel prize winner (1927–2019) Contemporary
  9. 9 Sydney Chapman Sydney Chapman British mathematician and geophysicist 1888–1970 · 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Sydney, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Sydney?

The median living Sydney is about 23 years old. Half of all living Sydneys are between 17 and 28 years old.

How many people named Sydney are alive today?

An estimated 179 thousand people named Sydney are alive in the United States, based on 187,700 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

How popular is the name Sydney in 2025?

Sydney ranked #348 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 873 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Sydney?

187,700 babies have been named Sydney in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Sydney most popular?

Sydney peaked in 2000, when 10,369 newborns received the name.

Is Sydney a boy or girl name?

Sydney is used for both: about 95% of babies named Sydney have been girls and 5% boys.

Is the name Sydney rising or falling?

Sydney is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Sydney become more popular?

Sydney is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 680 girls named Sydney in 2030, which would rank around #453. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Sydney?

Well-known people named Sydney include Sydney Sweeney (actor), Sydney Pollack (film director), Sydney Tamiia Poitier (actor).

Names like Sydney

Names that sound and feel close to Sydney: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Sydney with similar names → More names starting with S →