Sylvia

What Sylvia means

Means “forest”

Feminine form of a Medieval form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Sylvia” (revision 94580793), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Sylvia?

US: Rising: up from #484 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #649 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1937, when 4,371 girls got the name (#50 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,580 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,666 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (2.45 per 1,000 girls), MN (2.05 per 1,000 girls), WV (1.97 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Sylvia is #300 in the US and #426 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Sylvia were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Sylvie1,096 US · 270 E&W
• Silvia182 US · 12 E&W
• Silvie22 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Sylvia

Girls

• Loretta#606Diminutive of Laura, meaning “laurel tree”^*
• Regina#395“queen”^*
• Florence#391“flowering, flourishing”^*
• Frances#318Editor’s note Up from #513 in 2015 to #318 in 2025 in the US
• Rosemary#251“dew of the sea”^*
• Maxine#496Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,106 in 2015, #496 in 2025

For a brother

• Francis#420“Frankish (man); a Frank”^*
• Leon#138“lion”^*
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Lionel#659“lion”^*
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*
• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Sylvia’s. Rank is US 2025.