Sylvia
A girls’ name of Latin origin, meaning from the forest.
How Sylvia has moved
View as table
| Year | US rank |
|---|---|
| 2015 | #484 |
| 2016 | #502 |
| 2017 | #484 |
| 2018 | #492 |
| 2019 | #513 |
| 2020 | #502 |
| 2021 | #467 |
| 2022 | #435 |
| 2023 | #426 |
| 2024 | #361 |
| 2025 | #300 |
Sylvia by the numbers
In 2025, 95 babies in England and Wales were named Sylvia. In the US, 636 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 4,366 babies in 1937, so it is a 1930s name that has since fallen a long way.
At its height, in 1935, about 1 in 300 American girls born that year was called Sylvia.
Names that come from Sylvia
Forms of Sylvia in other languages, names built from it, and names that mean a son or daughter of it. Not always the same sex.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Sylvia. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Sylvieof the forest; a form of Sylvia270 in England and Wales (2025)
- Silviaof the forest; wooded; a form of Sylvia142 in the US (2017)
- Sylvifrom the forest; a form of Sylvia20 in the US (2017)
- Sylvanaof the forest; feminine form of Sylvanus19 in the US (2017)
- Syriavariant of Syra; from the country Syria9 in the US (2017)
- Soleiasun; derived from helios or sol8 in the US (2017)
Other names that mean a forest or wood
Like Sylvia, 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)
- Kimberlyfrom the wood of the royal forest1,823 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)
- Kimbervariant of Kimberley, from a place name meaning royal forest508 in the US (2017)
Names about as common as Sylvia
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