Sylvester
A boys’ name of Latin origin, meaning of the forest; wooded.
Babies a year
67
the US, 2017
Rarity
Very rare
among names in use
US popularity
—
outside the top 1000
UK popularity
#2664
8 babies
Sylvester by the numbers
In 2025, 8 babies in England and Wales were named Sylvester. In the US, 67 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
It is used at about the same rate on both sides of the Atlantic.
Its American peak was 807 babies in 1920, so it is a 1920s name that has since fallen a long way.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Sylvester. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Silvestreof the forest or woods15 in the US (2017)
Other names that mean a forest or wood
Like Sylvester, each of these has a forest or wood in its meaning. Different names, different histories, the same idea.
- Sawyerone who saws wood; woodcutter5,531 in the US (2017)
- Silasof the forest, woods3,309 in the US (2017)
- Lennoxelm grove or from the place of the elms1,200 in the US (2017)
- Emberglowing piece of coal or wood192 in England and Wales (2025)
- Henleyhigh wood or clearing670 in the US (2017)
- Keithforest; from gaelic cèith582 in the US (2017)
Names about as common as Sylvester
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