Sid
A diminutive masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 1,620 living Americans carry the first name Sid. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sid today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sid births was 1960 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sid. 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 Sid with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 211,577 Americans
Peak year
1960
66 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,669
Tracked since 1880
Census
Sid in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,432 people with the first name Sid, which placed it at #5,108 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
#5,108
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,432 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sid
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sid is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.6%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Sid 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 Sid at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 2,103
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.6% · 639
- Black or African American8.0% · 274
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 266
- Two or more races3.5% · 119
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Sid
Out of the 3,005 babies given the name Sid since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Sid as a male name
- Ranked #4,669 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (66 births)
Sid as a female name
- Ranked #5,759 in 1921
- 5 female births in 1921
- Peak: 1921 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sid leans strongly male. 3,284 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 148 female bearers (4.3%).
Popularity
Sid: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sid from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 372 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sid 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 Sid during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sids live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sid, while Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sid
The name Sid has its origins in the Arabic language and is a diminutive or shortened form of the name Siddiq, which means "truthful" or "honest." This name has been used across various cultures and regions influenced by Islamic traditions.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Sid can be traced back to the 7th century, around the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Abu Bakr Siddiq, a close companion of Prophet Muhammad and the first Caliph (ruler) of the Islamic empire after the prophet's death.
In ancient Arabic texts and Islamic scriptures, Siddiq is mentioned as an honorific title bestowed upon Abu Bakr for his unwavering loyalty and commitment to the truth. The name Sid, as a shortened form, gained popularity among Muslims and eventually spread to other regions and cultures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sid. One example is Sidi Bel Abbes, a renowned Moroccan Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic who lived in the 13th century. Another prominent figure was Siddi Habib, an Indian Sufi saint and scholar from the 17th century, who played a significant role in spreading Islam in the Indian subcontinent.
In the literary realm, Sidi Khalifah, an 18th-century Moroccan scholar and historian, authored several important works on the history and culture of North Africa. Additionally, Sidi Ifni was a Moroccan resistance leader who fought against the Spanish colonial forces in the early 20th century.
Moving to more recent times, Sidi Lamine Dieng was a prominent Senegalese politician and statesman who served as the President of Senegal from 1981 to 1988. He played a crucial role in the country's development and democratization process.
It is important to note that while the name Sid has its roots in Arabic and Islamic culture, it has transcended cultural boundaries and is now used by people of various backgrounds and ethnicities around the world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sid
People
Sid + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sid 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
Sid: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sid?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,620 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sid 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 211,577 US residents.
Is Sid a common name?
We classify Sid as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,005 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sid most popular?
The single biggest year for Sid was 1960, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sid is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sid in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,432 people with the name Sid, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,108 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 Sid 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 Sid?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sid leans strongly male. 3,284 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 148 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Sid?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sid is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.6%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Sid most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sid in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (2,103 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 Sid in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sid a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Sid in the SSA data are male. 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 Sid still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sid 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 Sid 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 many people share the name Sid?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.