How popular is the baby name Sidney in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Sidney.

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Popularity of the baby name Sidney


Posts that mention the name Sidney

What turned Torrance into a girl name (briefly) in the early 2000s?

The character Torrance Shipman from the movie "Bring It On" (2000)
Torrance Shipman from “Bring It On“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Torrance — which has been given to baby boys regularly since the 1950s — was suddenly given to dozens of baby girls in 2001:

Girls named TorranceBoys named Torrance
20036253
200273†41
20014051
2000.39
1999.43
†Peak usage

Why?

Because of fictional cheerleader Torrance Shipman from the teen comedy Bring It On, released in August of 2000.

In the movie, San Diego high school senior Torrance (played by Kirsten Dunst) is the new captain of the Rancho Carne Toros cheerleading squad (whose members were predominantly white). The Toros are the long-reigning national champions, and Torrance is ready to lead the team to victory yet again.

Then she discovers that the previous cheer captain stole the Toros’ best routines from the East Compton Clovers (whose members were predominantly Black). Torrance will need to come up with a brand new cheer routine for the Toros in time to compete — against the Clovers themselves — at Nationals.

Jessica Bendinger, who wrote the movie’s screenplay, described Bring It On as “socioeconomic inequality and cultural appropriation in cheerleading skirts.”

So where did Torrance Shipman’s unusual first name come from? Likely from the city of Torrance in Los Angeles County. (Whittier, another city in LA County, was used as the name of the protagonist in Bring It On Again, the movie’s first direct-to-TV sequel.) The city of Torrance was founded in the early 20th century by real estate developer Jared Sidney Torrance.

What are your thoughts on the name Torrance? Do you like it better as a girl name, or as a boy name?

P.S. Earlier the same year, Kirsten Dunst starred as Lux in The Virgin Suicides…

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Bring It On

The most gender-neutral baby names in the U.S. in 2024

pink and blue cupcakes

In 2024, close to 2,700 names appeared in the U.S. baby name data both as girl names and as boy names.

Which of these names were the most gender-neutral overall?

To create a useful set of rankings, I focused on names given to at least 150 babies in total. I sorted these names by how evenly they were given to babies of both genders, and the following came out on top:

Female usageMale usage
1. Charlie50.3% (2,109 girls)49.7% (2,084 boys)
2. Arden49.5% (237 girls)50.5% (242 boys)
3. Justice50.6% (206 girls)49.4% (201 boys)
4. Akari50.7% (107 girls)49.3% (104 boys)
5. Kit50.8% (188 girls)49.2% (182 boys)
6. Huntley51.0% (102 girls)49.0% (98 boys)
7. Alexis48.7% (604 girls)51.3% (636 boys)
8. Kacey51.6% (225 girls)48.4% (211 boys)
9. Divine48.3% (97 girls)51.7% (104 boys)
10. Jael51.7% (148 girls)48.3% (138 boys)
11. Jelani48.1% (87 girls)51.9% (94 boys)
12. Ashtyn47.9% (81 girls)52.1% (88 boys)
13. Jules47.9% (81 girls)52.1% (88 boys)
14. Campbell52.1% (273 girls)47.9% (251 boys)
15. Iman52.3% (92 girls)47.7% (84 boys)
16. Dakota52.3% (1,155 girls)47.7% (1,053 boys)
17. Hollis47.5% (188 girls)52.5% (208 boys)
18. True47.5% (206 girls)52.5% (228 boys)
19. Blake52.6% (1,457 girls)47.4% (1,311 boys)
20. Brighton53.0% (88 girls)47.0% (78 boys)
21. Robin53.1% (351 girls)46.9% (310 boys)
22. Jamie46.3% (391 girls)53.7% (453 boys)
23. Joan46.1% (188 girls)53.9% (220 boys)
24. Sidney46.1% (117 girls)53.9% (137 boys)
25. Chandler46.0% (297 girls)54.0% (348 boys)

More than half of the above appeared on the 2023 list as well.

None of last year’s fifty-fifty splits were popular enough to make the cut, but Lou — given to 70 girls and 70 boys — came close.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Gallery 1 by Sarah Howells under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Where did the baby name Kessel come from in 2017?

Hockey player Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel

The rare name Kessel was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 2017:

  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: 5 baby boys named Kessel [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Professional hockey player Philip “Phil” Kessel.

During the second half of the 2010s, Kessel played with the Pittsburgh Penguins (alongside teammate Sidney Crosby). The team won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons: 2016 and 2017.

The name Kessel does not appear anywhere in the SSA’s state-by-state data, meaning that Pennsylvania was not the birthplace of all five of the baby boys named Kessel (curiously). We do know that at least one of the winger’s namesakes was born inside the Keystone State, though — to Pittsburgh parents Nicole and Adam Hillman. Their baby boy, Kessel Ryan Hillman, arrived in May of 2017 (during the Eastern Conference Finals).

The German surname Kessel is derived from a Middle High German word meaning “kettle, cauldron.” It originally referred to a person who made copper cooking vessels.

What are your thoughts on Kessel as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Phil Kessel 2017-06-08 by Michael Miller under CC BY-SA 4.0.

North Carolina triplets with rhyming names: Dessie, Bessie, Essie

Triplets Dessie, Bessie and Essie Justice (plus a younger sibling)
Dessie, Bessie, and Essie Justice

During the early decades of the the 20th century, Thomas Edward “Tommy” Justice and Laura Effie Justice (née Searcy) of Henderson County, North Carolina, welcomed 14 children — including a set of triplets.

Here are the names of all 14 siblings:

  1. Curtis Edward (born in 1900)
  2. Sidney Thomas (b. 1902)
  3. Dessie M. (b. 1904)
  4. Bessie Martha (b. 1904)
  5. Essie Margaret (b. 1904)
  6. Lula Belle (b. 1906)
  7. unnamed son (b. 1908)
  8. William Leonard (b. 1909)
  9. James Arthur (b. 1911)
  10. Anna May (b. 1914)
  11. Fred (b. 1917)
  12. Mary Sue (b. 1919)
  13. Laura Lee (b. 1921)
  14. George Washington (b. 1924)

Dessie, Bessie, and Essie were born in the family’s log cabin on March 16, 1904.

As children, Dessie and Bessie looked a lot alike, but Essie stood out because she “was the runt,” according to Dessie.

Dessie also noted that all three of them were “bashful” as youngsters:

We were entered in baby shows and attracted a lot of attention since we were triplets, but we didn’t like it. We would run and hide under the bed when people came to take our pictures. They would have to drag us to the shows and feed us ice cream behind the curtain to keep us at the show.

Speaking of Dessie…I wasn’t able to track down her middle name. What do you think Dessie’s middle initial, “M.,” might have stood for?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Spirit of Missions magazine (Sept. 1911)