Sydnei
A feminine name of modern English origin meaning "a person from Sydney".
Name Census estimates that about 623 living Americans carry the first name Sydnei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sydnei today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sydnei births was 2005 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sydnei. 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.
People living today
623
~ 1 in 550,167 Americans
Peak year
2005
37 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,019
Tracked since 1988
Census
Sydnei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 568 people with the first name Sydnei, which placed it at #18,854 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
#18,854
National first-name rank
People counted
568
568 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sydnei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sydnei is Black at 62.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Sydnei 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 Sydnei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.7% · 356
- White27.1% · 154
- Two or more races5.3% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Sydnei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sydnei from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 274 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sydnei 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 Sydnei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sydneis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Sydnei, while Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sydnei
The name Sydnei is believed to have originated as a variant spelling of the English place name Sydney, which itself is derived from an Old English term meaning "dweller by the well-watered land." The earliest recorded use of the name Sydnei dates back to the late 16th century in parts of southern England.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Sydnei was Sydnei Smith, a 17th century English soldier and Member of Parliament, born in 1598 and died in 1677. Another notable figure was Sydnei Godolphin, the 1st Earl of Godolphin, a leading British politician and military leader who lived from 1645 to 1712.
In the 18th century, Sydnei Parkinson was a renowned English botanist and artist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1771. Parkinson's botanical illustrations from the expedition were highly influential in the field of natural history.
Moving into the 19th century, Sydnei Morgan was a Welsh writer and educator who lived from 1828 to 1907. Morgan was a prominent figure in the Welsh literary renaissance and played a crucial role in preserving and promoting the Welsh language and culture.
More recently, Sydnei Harbinson was a respected American architect and urban planner who lived from 1920 to 2011. Harbinson was known for her innovative designs and her commitment to creating sustainable and livable urban environments.
While the name Sydnei has ancient roots and a rich history, it remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times, with few notable bearers in recent decades. Its unique spelling and connection to the city of Sydney, Australia, have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Sydnei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sydnei 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
Sydnei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sydnei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 623 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sydnei 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 550,167 US residents.
Is Sydnei a common name?
We classify Sydnei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 635 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sydnei most popular?
The single biggest year for Sydnei was 2005, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sydnei is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sydnei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 568 people with the name Sydnei, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,854 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 Sydnei 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 Sydnei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sydnei leans strongly female. 544 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 21 male bearers (3.7%). 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 Sydnei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sydnei is Black at 62.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Sydnei most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sydnei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.7% (356 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 Sydnei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sydnei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sydnei 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 Sydnei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sydnei 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 Sydnei 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 Sydnei?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.