Sidney or Sydney is an
English surname
English names are names used in, or originating in, England.
In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...
.
It is probably derived from an
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
locational name, ''
�t þǣresīdan īege'', "
t the
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
wide island/
watermeadow
A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-m ...
" (in the
dative case
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob ...
).
[Reaney, P.H. & Wilson, R.M. (1997) ''A dictionary of English surnames, revised edition'' Oxford University Press, New York, ]
There is also a folk etymological derivation from the French place name Saint Denis.
[Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. (1988). ''A dictionary of surnames.'' Oxford University Press, New York, . "The name is usually derived from St. Denis but proof is lacking". Reaney, P.H. & Wilson, R.M. (1997)]
The name has also been used as a given name since the 19th century.
British peerage
The Sidney family rose to prominence in the
Tudor period with the courtier
Sir William Sidney (d. 1554).
His son
Henry Sidney (1529–1586) became a prominent politician and courtier. By
Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney
Lady Mary Sidney (née Dudley; c. 1530–1535Adams 2008c – 9 August 1586) was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Elizabeth I, and the mother of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. A daughter of ...
(d. 1586) he was the father of
Philip Sidney
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
(1554–1586), poet and courtier under Elizabeth I,
Mary Sidney (1561–1621), married Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
and
Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (d. 1626).
The latter was created
Baron Sydney
Baron Sydney (an alternative spelling of the surname Sidney) was a title that was created three times in British history. The title was later elevated twice into a viscounty, and from there, once more into an earldom.
First creation (1603)
The f ...
of Penhurst in 1603.
Following Robert, the Earls of Leicester bore the surname Sidney:
*
Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1 December 1595 – 2 November 1677) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1625 and then succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Leicester.
Life
Sidney was born ...
(1595–1677)
**The republican
Algernon Sidney
Algernon Sidney or Sydney (15 January 1623 – 7 December 1683) was an English politician, republican political theorist and colonel. A member of the middle part of the Long Parliament and commissioner of the trial of King Charles I of England ...
(1623–1683) was a son of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester.
**
Henry Sidney (1641–1704), a son of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, was created Baron Milton and Viscount Sidney in 1689 and
Earl of Romney
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
in 1694.
*
Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester
Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester (10 January 1619 – 6 March 1698) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659 and became Earl of Leicester in 1677. He supported the Parliamentarian cause ...
(1619–1698)
*
Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester (17 December 1649 – 11 November 1702) was the son of Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester, and the former Lady Catherine Cecil.
Life
As a child, Robert Sidney and his sister Dorothy had their portrait pa ...
(1649–1702)
*
Philip Sidney, 5th Earl of Leicester
Philip Sidney, 5th Earl of Leicester (8 July 1676 – 24 July 1705) was a British peer and Member of Parliament for Kent, styled Viscount Lisle from 1698 to 1702.
He inherited the earldom from Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester and was succee ...
(1676–1705)
*
John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester
John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester KB (14 February 168027 September 1737) was an English soldier, peer, landowner, and courtier, and from 1705 to 1737 was Earl of Leicester, with a seat in the House of Lords.
Life
Leicester was born at his fami ...
(1680–1737)
*
Jocelyn Sidney, 7th Earl of Leicester (1682–1743)
The first creation of the title Baron Sydney was extinct with the death of the 7th Earl of Leicester in 1743.
In 1768,
Dudley Cosby
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Minister Plenipotentiary to Denmark between 1763 and 1765, was made
Baron Sydney
Baron Sydney (an alternative spelling of the surname Sidney) was a title that was created three times in British history. The title was later elevated twice into a viscounty, and from there, once more into an earldom.
First creation (1603)
The f ...
(second creation), of Stradbally in the Queen's County, in the
Peerage of Ireland. This creation became extinct on Lord Sydney's death in 1774.
Thomas Townshend was created
Baron Sydney
Baron Sydney (an alternative spelling of the surname Sidney) was a title that was created three times in British history. The title was later elevated twice into a viscounty, and from there, once more into an earldom.
First creation (1603)
The f ...
(third creation) of Chiselhurst in 1783. He was later created
Viscount Sydney.
Sydney Cove and by extension
Sydney, Australia are named for him.
*
John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney (1764–1831)
*
John Robert Townshend, 3rd Viscount Sydney (1805–1890), created
Earl Sydney in 1874)
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Thomas Sidney, fourth son of Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester, was the grandmother of John Shelley-Sidney, whose son
Philip Sidney
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
(1800–1851) was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as
Baron De L'Isle and Dudley
Viscount De L'Isle, of Penshurst in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1956 for William Sidney, 6th Baron de L'Isle and Dudley, VC, KG, GCMG, GCVO (1909–1991).
History
This branch of t ...
. His successors also carried the surname Sidney:
*Philip Sidney, 2nd Baron De L'Isle and Dudley (1828–1898)
*Philip Sidney, 3rd Baron De L'Isle and Dudley (1853–1922)
*Algernon Sidney, 4th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley (1854–1945)
*William Sidney, 5th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley (1859–1945)
*
William Philip Sidney, 6th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley (1909–1991)
*
Philip John Algernon Sidney, 2nd Viscount De L'Isle (b. 1945)
Other people
Other people with the surname include:
*
Angela Sidney
Angela Sidney, (January 4, 1902 – July 17, 1991) was a Tagish storyteller. She co-authored two narratives of traditional Tagish legends and a historical document of Tagish place names for southern Yukon. For her linguistics and ethnography ...
(1902–1991), Tagish storyteller
*
George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...
(1916–2002), American film director
*
Sylvia Sidney (1910–1999), American actress
*
Donald Sidney-Fryer (b. 1934), American poet
See also
*
Sidney (given name)
Sidney (often shortened to Sid) is an English given name deriving from the surname, itself of two different derivations depending on the origins of the family. In some cases a place name, itself from Old English, meaning "wide water meadow", and i ...
*
Sydney (name) Notable people and characters named Sydney include:
Given name Men
*Sydney Allard (1910–1966), British car company founder
* Sydney Ancher (1904–1978), Australian architect
* Sydney Atkinson (1901–1977), South African athlete
* Sydney D. ...
Notes
{{surname, Sidney
Surnames
English-language surnames