The name recalls the Van Siclen family, Dutch settlers of colonial Brooklyn.
The family came from the Netherlands in the mid-17th century and settled in western Long Island, with branches in Gravesend and in New Lots, the old town that became East New York. Its name was spelled two ways, Van Siclen and Van Sicklen, as was common before spellings were fixed; Forgotten New York counts three streets, four stations and a cemetery bearing it.