Silver
Silver is given to both girls and boys: 46 girls and 19 boys were given it in 2025 (#3,379 among girls’ names and #5,170 among boys’, #4,736 among all names counting both); 2,277 Americans have been recorded with it since 1896 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,950 Americans named Silver and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (86% of everyone recorded); the median is 19 years old and half are between 8 and 37.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Silver by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Silver mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Silver is “a unisex given name from English from the metal, or transferred from the surname.”
As a surname, anglicised from the German Jewish ornamental surname Silber.
/ˈsɪlvɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Silver?
#3,379 among girls’ names, 2025
Silver rose from #3,752 in 2015 to #3,379 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 23.0 to 28.6 per million.
75 babies in 2023, the peak
Silver peaked in 2023, when 75 babies were given it (55 girls, #3,043 among girls’ names). The 65 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 87% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 46 | #3,379 | 19 | #5,170 |
| 2024 | 47 | #3,385 | 23 | #4,544 |
| 2023 | 55 | #3,043 | 20 | #5,036 |
| 2022 | 41 | #3,754 | 18 | #5,397 |
| 2021 | 47 | #3,382 | 18 | #5,299 |
| 2020 | 37 | #3,900 | 19 | #5,007 |
| 2019 | 51 | #3,163 | 11 | #7,558 |
| 2018 | 37 | #3,993 | 14 | #6,288 |
| 2017 | 45 | #3,472 | 13 | #6,612 |
| 2016 | 51 | #3,221 | 12 | #7,075 |
Every recorded year (105)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 41 | #3,752 | 9 | #8,624 |
| 2014 | 36 | #4,167 | 16 | #5,675 |
| 2013 | 35 | #4,228 | 17 | #5,355 |
| 2012 | 41 | #3,842 | 6 | #12,055 |
| 2011 | 32 | #4,556 | 9 | #8,653 |
| 2010 | 45 | #3,562 | 6 | #11,976 |
| 2009 | 34 | #4,468 | under 5 | |
| 2008 | 19 | #7,028 | 8 | #9,725 |
| 2007 | 10 | #11,514 | 9 | #8,808 |
| 2006 | 15 | #8,179 | 13 | #6,396 |
| 2005 | 16 | #7,445 | 8 | #8,961 |
| 2004 | 15 | #7,783 | under 5 | |
| 2003 | 14 | #7,932 | 12 | #6,189 |
| 2002 | 26 | #4,738 | 11 | #6,457 |
| 2001 | 18 | #6,273 | 13 | #5,616 |
| 2000 | 18 | #6,174 | 9 | #7,306 |
| 1999 | 19 | #5,623 | 6 | #9,726 |
| 1998 | 26 | #4,349 | under 5 | |
| 1997 | 38 | #3,151 | 9 | #6,533 |
| 1996 | 25 | #4,288 | under 5 | |
| 1995 | 12 | #7,451 | under 5 | |
| 1994 | 20 | #4,991 | 6 | #8,649 |
| 1993 | 21 | #4,794 | 7 | #7,506 |
| 1992 | 21 | #4,827 | 6 | #8,290 |
| 1991 | 28 | #3,792 | 5 | #9,421 |
| 1990 | 28 | #3,798 | under 5 | |
| 1989 | 32 | #3,309 | 5 | #9,036 |
| 1988 | 36 | #2,922 | under 5 | |
| 1987 | 19 | #4,453 | 6 | #6,818 |
| 1986 | 18 | #4,514 | under 5 | |
| 1985 | 25 | #3,501 | under 5 | |
| 1984 | 41 | #2,375 | under 5 | |
| 1983 | 41 | #2,350 | under 5 | |
| 1982 | 18 | #4,315 | under 5 | |
| 1981 | 9 | #7,318 | under 5 | |
| 1980 | 13 | #5,500 | 7 | #5,436 |
| 1979 | 9 | #7,227 | under 5 | |
| 1978 | 11 | #5,909 | under 5 | |
| 1977 | 8 | #7,461 | 6 | #5,742 |
| 1975 | 7 | #7,844 | 6 | #5,363 |
| 1974 | 6 | #8,582 | under 5 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 6 | #4,999 | |
| 1972 | 10 | #5,416 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 7 | #6,959 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 6 | #4,340 | |
| 1968 | 6 | #6,901 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 5 | #7,693 | under 5 | |
| 1966 | 7 | #5,719 | under 5 | |
| 1965 | 6 | #6,423 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 9 | #4,953 | under 5 | |
| 1962 | 6 | #6,465 | under 5 | |
| 1960 | 10 | #4,406 | under 5 | |
| 1959 | 8 | #4,974 | under 5 | |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,899 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | 13 | #3,463 | under 5 | |
| 1956 | 7 | #5,250 | under 5 | |
| 1955 | 10 | #4,018 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 5 | #4,297 | |
| 1953 | 5 | #6,402 | 6 | #3,748 |
| 1952 | 10 | #3,763 | under 5 | |
| 1950 | 6 | #5,225 | 5 | #4,130 |
| 1949 | 6 | #5,182 | under 5 | |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,842 | 6 | #3,616 |
| 1947 | 8 | #4,300 | under 5 | |
| 1945 | 5 | #5,163 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,926 | under 5 | |
| 1943 | 6 | #4,628 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 5 | #3,976 | |
| 1941 | 10 | #3,006 | 5 | #3,941 |
| 1940 | 8 | #3,474 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 12 | #2,562 | 5 | #3,916 |
| 1938 | 10 | #2,904 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 11 | #2,717 | 5 | #3,944 |
| 1936 | 9 | #3,075 | under 5 | |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,418 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | 5 | #4,874 | 8 | #2,932 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,776 | 5 | #4,087 |
| 1932 | under 5 | 6 | #3,722 | |
| 1931 | 7 | #3,800 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 5 | #4,469 | |
| 1928 | 9 | #3,408 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | 7 | #4,223 | under 5 | |
| 1926 | 5 | #5,519 | 9 | #3,109 |
| 1925 | 6 | #4,892 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,975 | 7 | #3,817 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,900 | 6 | #4,176 |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,973 | 11 | #2,778 |
| 1920 | under 5 | 5 | #4,887 | |
| 1919 | 13 | #2,621 | under 5 | |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,808 | under 5 | |
| 1917 | 5 | #5,225 | under 5 | |
| 1915 | 8 | #3,391 | 8 | #3,038 |
| 1913 | under 5 | 7 | #2,474 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 5 | #1,963 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 10 | #772 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Silver a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 2,277 Americans recorded as Silver, 77% are girls and 23% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Silver: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Silver, and how old are they?
1,950 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 86% of the 2,277 Americans ever recorded as Silver. The median Silver alive today is 19 years old; half are between 8 and 37.
The 2020 Census counted 1,946 people named Silver (1,305 women and girls, 641 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,630 born in the U.S. The Census count is 19% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 47 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 116 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 416 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 499 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 773 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Silver born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 6 | #3,242 | 0.3× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Silver with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 2,460 babies since 1880, Silver is the most given (93% of them). In 2025 it was given to 65 of their 71 babies (92%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Silver
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1890-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Elia | 10,159 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Silver and names like it
- Compare Silver and SylverBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sSilver peaked in 2023.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Silver since 1910.
- English namesWiktionary’s origin for Silver: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Silver.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Silver alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with SMost given first.