Given name & surname

Sykes

“marshy stream, gutter, ditch”

Sykes is a surname from Middle English.

Meaning & origin

What it means

Sykes goes back to Middle English sike, meaning “marshy stream, gutter, ditch.”

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where it comes from

Sykes comes from Middle English.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

From Middle English sike (“marshy stream, gutter, ditch”).

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2021. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Sykes through the years

Babies since 1880
6
6 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
2021
6 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
012342025Highest share 20210.0
Sykes in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2021–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2021. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 26,650 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Similar names

If you love Sykes, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Old English · Modern

Walsh

“Welsh(man)”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Middle English · Modern

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Devereux

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“basket”

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>99% boys

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Hawken

Hawken is a surname from Middle English.

0Not recently recordedCooling

>99% boys

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Kidd

“resembling a young goat”

11Very rareRising fast

>99% boys

Middle English · Modern

Wild

Wild is a surname from Middle English. It is used in English and German.

12Very rareRising fast

87% boys · 13% girls

Middle English · Modern

Axon

Axon is a surname from Middle English.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Sykes’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Sykes

A sister for Sykes