Sylvia
Sylvia was the 300th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 1,017 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 50th with 4,371 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 184 places. More babies were named Sylvia in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning of the forest · Latin
Say it SIL-vee-uh /ˈsɪlviə/
- Rank in 2025
- #300 girls, up 202 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 1,017girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19374,371 babies
- Total since 1880
- 245,978babies recorded
What does the name Sylvia mean?
Sylvia is the feminine of Silvius, from Latin silva, "forest, woodland". DMNES notes Silvius as the name of legendary kings of Alba Longa, and Wiktionary points to Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, and to the 6th-century Saint Silvia, mother of Pope Gregory the Great. The y spelling is a later fashion; Silvia is the Latin form.
silva (Latin, “forest, woodland”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Silvia, Sylvie, Silvana, Sylvester.
See also: Latin names, names that mean tree.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Sylvia', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Sylvia', DMNES, Durham University
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Sylvius', DMNES, Durham University
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
Nicknames for Sylvia
The usual nicknames for Sylvia are Sylvie and Syl. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Sylvia in the last five years, 98 were named Sylvie, against 13 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvie | Traditional | #282 | 3,938 |
| Syl · also for Sylvester | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Sylvias go by each one.
Sylvia popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 908 since 1906.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #300 | 1,017 |
| 2020 | #502 | 606 |
| 2010 | #557 | 525 |
| 2000 | #497 | 542 |
| 1990 | #334 | 818 |
| 1980 | #264 | 962 |
| 1970 | #189 | 1,727 |
| 1960 | #121 | 3,824 |
| 1950 | #97 | 3,612 |
| 1940 | #62 | 3,802 |
| 1930 | #132 | 1,830 |
| 1920 | #85 | 3,317 |
| 1910 | #92 | 1,000 |
| 1900 | #137 | 446 |
| 1890 | #158 | 223 |
| 1880 | #162 | 81 |
How popular is Sylvia, counting every spelling?
Sylvia is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #280 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #300 for Sylvia on its own. Together these spellings went to 1,199 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvia | 1,017 | #300 | 4,002 |
| Silvia | 182 | #1,240 | 879 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Sylvia?
1,017 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Sylvia (0.28 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Sylvia born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 8 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Sylvia.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Sylvia?
About 128,300 people born in the US named Sylvia are alive today, with a median age of 65; half are between 47 and 75. That makes Sylvia a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Sylvia by state
How common Sylvia was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Wisconsin (3.2×), Minnesota (3.0×), Pennsylvania (2.6×), New Hampshire (2.4×), Kentucky (2.4×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Texas, California, Georgia.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Sylvia: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Sylvia, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Sylvia · Sibling names for Sylvia
Questions about the name Sylvia
What does Sylvia mean?
Sylvia means “of the forest” (Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Sylvia?
Sylvia was the 300th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 1,017 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 50th with 4,371 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 184 places. More babies were named Sylvia in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Sylvia a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Sylvia in the US.
Where is Sylvia most popular?
In 2021–2025, Sylvia was most common in Vermont (2.06 per 1,000 girls), followed by Wisconsin and Minnesota.