How Many People Are Named Sydney?
An estimated 175,906 people in the United States have the first name Sydney. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #311 overall. It is predominantly female (95.0%). The average bearer is 24 years old, and Sydney peaked in popularity in 2000 with 10,369 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sydney as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sydney paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Sydney has undergone a significant gender shift. Originally given predominantly to boys, it is now more commonly a girls' name.
Estimated Living Americans
175,906
About 1 in 1,949 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
95.0% confidence
Average Age
24
years old
Peak Year
2000
10,369 births
Total Registered
186,796
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sydney
Sydney is predominantly female (95.0%), though 9,383 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Sydney as a male name
Ranked #4,292 in 2024
25 male births in 2024
Peak: 1916 (205 births)
Sydney as a female name
Ranked #288 in 2024
1,097 female births in 2024
Peak: 2000 (10,243 births)
Sydney: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sydney span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 77,286 babies were registered. Sydney has declined significantly from its peak in the 2000s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sydney by Decade
How has Sydney tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 151 | 137 | 14 | |
| 1890s | 184 | 161 | 23 | |
| 1900s | 299 | 215 | 84 | |
| 1910s | 1,706 | 1,441 | 265 | |
| 1920s | 1,615 | 1,309 | 306 | |
| 1930s | 1,625 | 827 | 798 | |
| 1940s | 2,327 | 815 | 1,512 | |
| 1950s | 2,153 | 631 | 1,522 | |
| 1960s | 1,851 | 504 | 1,347 | |
| 1970s | 1,287 | 356 | 931 | |
| 1980s | 5,044 | 457 | 4,587 | |
| 1990s | 56,774 | 1,018 | 55,756 | |
| 2000s | 77,286 | 844 | 76,442 | |
| 2010s | 28,587 | 506 | 28,081 | |
| 2020s | 5,907 | 162 | 5,745 | |
Sydney by State
Birth registrations for Sydney span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska. On average, about 3,473 Sydneys were registered per state.
Sydney + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sydney as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sydney
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sydney: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sydney?
We estimate approximately 175,906 people named Sydney are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,949 Americans share this first name.
Is Sydney a common name?
Sydney is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 186,796 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sydney most popular?
Sydney reached peak popularity in 2000, when 10,369 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sydney is approximately 24 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sydney a female name?
Sydney is predominantly female. 95.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sydney Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sydney Smith, Sydney Johnson, Sydney Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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