Sicily
An Italian toponymic name referring to the Mediterranean island of Sicily.
Name Census estimates that about 1,418 living Americans carry the first name Sicily. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sicily today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sicily births was 2006 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sicily. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sicily with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 241,717 Americans
Peak year
2006
74 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,155
Tracked since 1973
Census
Sicily in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,152 people with the first name Sicily, which placed it at #11,247 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,247
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sicily
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sicily is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (13.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sicily described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sicily at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.0% · 634
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 196
- Black or African American13.1% · 151
- Two or more races10.1% · 116
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 18
Popularity
Sicily: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sicily from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 501 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sicily remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sicily by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sicily during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sicilys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Sicily, while Minnesota, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sicily
The name Sicily has its origins in the island of the same name, located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is derived from the Greek word "Sikelia," which was used to refer to the island by ancient Greeks as early as the 8th century BCE. The name is thought to have its roots in the word "sike," meaning a curved blade or hook, possibly referring to the island's distinctive shape.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Sicily can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who wrote about the Sicilian Expedition during the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century BCE. The island was also referenced in various ancient Greek myths and legends, including the story of the Cyclops Polyphemus from Homer's Odyssey.
In ancient Roman times, the island was known as "Sicilia," and its name appeared in various historical accounts and writings, such as those of Cicero and Pliny the Elder. During the Middle Ages, the island was conquered by various powers, including the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Byzantines, each of whom left their mark on the island's history and culture.
While the name Sicily has primarily been associated with the island itself, there have been a few notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name as a personal moniker. One such figure was Sicily, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Avitus, who lived in the 5th century CE. Another was Sicily of Ferrara, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In more recent times, the name Sicily has been used as a given name, though its popularity has been relatively limited. One notable bearer of the name was Sicily Holton-Parkin (1868-1964), an English artist and illustrator who was active in the early 20th century. Another was Sicily Seymour (1935-2021), an American painter and sculptor known for her abstract expressionist works.
While the name Sicily has a rich historical background and connections to the island's storied past, it has remained a relatively uncommon given name throughout the centuries. However, its unique origins and associations with the Mediterranean island have made it a distinctive and intriguing choice for those seeking a name with a strong sense of place and cultural significance.
People
Sicily + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sicily as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sicily: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sicily?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sicily going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 241,717 US residents.
Is Sicily a common name?
We classify Sicily as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,443 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sicily most popular?
The single biggest year for Sicily was 2006, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sicily is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sicily in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,152 people with the name Sicily, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,247 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sicily in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sicily?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sicily appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,152 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sicily?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sicily is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (13.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sicily most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sicily in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (634 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sicily in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sicily a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sicily in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sicily still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sicily in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sicily can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Sicily?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Sicily at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.