Sybil
Sybil was given to 152 girls in 2025, #1,426 among girls’ names; 20,365 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 8,180 Americans named Sybil and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (40% of everyone recorded); the median is 64 years old and half are between 41 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sybil by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sybil mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sybil is “a female given name from Ancient Greek, the most popular spelling variant of Sibyl since the 19th century.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sybil?
#1,426 among girls’ names, 2025
Sybil rose from #2,122 in 2015 to #1,426 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 51.0 to 94.6 per million.
541 babies in 1921, the peak
Sybil peaked in 1921, when 541 girls were given it, #285 among girls’ names. The 152 births of 2025 are 28% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 152 | #1,426 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 136 | #1,567 | 0.08 |
| 2023 | 154 | #1,452 | 0.10 |
| 2022 | 145 | #1,503 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 123 | #1,694 | 0.07 |
| 2020 | 101 | #1,907 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 124 | #1,697 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 109 | #1,866 | 0.06 |
| 2017 | 111 | #1,853 | 0.06 |
| 2016 | 106 | #1,907 | 0.06 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 91 | #2,122 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 86 | #2,211 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 67 | #2,655 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 16 | #7,756 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 13 | #9,085 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 12 | #9,723 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 12 | #9,911 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 18 | #7,374 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 15 | #8,469 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 19 | #6,802 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 20 | #6,214 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 15 | #7,791 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 9 | #11,215 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 8 | #12,061 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 18 | #6,281 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 16 | #6,762 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 9 | #10,233 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 13 | #7,477 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 15 | #6,450 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 11 | #8,059 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 20 | #5,001 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 24 | #4,359 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 18 | #5,397 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 29 | #3,759 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 26 | #4,039 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 33 | #3,345 | 0.02 |
| 1989 | 31 | #3,384 | 0.02 |
| 1988 | 33 | #3,083 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 40 | #2,564 | 0.02 |
| 1986 | 53 | #2,050 | 0.03 |
| 1985 | 32 | #2,927 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 39 | #2,462 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 33 | #2,714 | 0.02 |
| 1982 | 47 | #2,180 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 70 | #1,661 | 0.04 |
| 1980 | 93 | #1,360 | 0.06 |
| 1979 | 91 | #1,362 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 61 | #1,725 | 0.04 |
| 1977 | 89 | #1,313 | 0.06 |
| 1976 | 104 | #1,138 | 0.07 |
| 1975 | 119 | #1,020 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 117 | #1,030 | 0.08 |
| 1973 | 103 | #1,103 | 0.07 |
| 1972 | 88 | #1,218 | 0.06 |
| 1971 | 83 | #1,313 | 0.05 |
| 1970 | 76 | #1,386 | 0.04 |
| 1969 | 79 | #1,267 | 0.05 |
| 1968 | 89 | #1,144 | 0.05 |
| 1967 | 103 | #1,017 | 0.06 |
| 1966 | 144 | #834 | 0.09 |
| 1965 | 153 | #802 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 143 | #868 | 0.08 |
| 1963 | 210 | #706 | 0.11 |
| 1962 | 181 | #775 | 0.09 |
| 1961 | 129 | #955 | 0.06 |
| 1960 | 165 | #808 | 0.08 |
| 1959 | 146 | #846 | 0.07 |
| 1958 | 182 | #735 | 0.09 |
| 1957 | 169 | #768 | 0.08 |
| 1956 | 168 | #750 | 0.08 |
| 1955 | 178 | #708 | 0.09 |
| 1954 | 194 | #666 | 0.10 |
| 1953 | 203 | #624 | 0.11 |
| 1952 | 215 | #594 | 0.12 |
| 1951 | 224 | #572 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 208 | #582 | 0.12 |
| 1949 | 214 | #573 | 0.13 |
| 1948 | 220 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1947 | 249 | #532 | 0.14 |
| 1946 | 277 | #473 | 0.18 |
| 1945 | 241 | #462 | 0.18 |
| 1944 | 256 | #455 | 0.19 |
| 1943 | 287 | #437 | 0.21 |
| 1942 | 292 | #423 | 0.22 |
| 1941 | 305 | #394 | 0.25 |
| 1940 | 368 | #333 | 0.32 |
| 1939 | 366 | #327 | 0.33 |
| 1938 | 357 | #336 | 0.32 |
| 1937 | 322 | #359 | 0.30 |
| 1936 | 370 | #320 | 0.36 |
| 1935 | 287 | #374 | 0.27 |
| 1934 | 271 | #395 | 0.26 |
| 1933 | 286 | #382 | 0.28 |
| 1932 | 268 | #399 | 0.25 |
| 1931 | 274 | #395 | 0.26 |
| 1930 | 318 | #385 | 0.28 |
| 1929 | 338 | #359 | 0.30 |
| 1928 | 419 | #326 | 0.36 |
| 1927 | 436 | #321 | 0.37 |
| 1926 | 381 | #342 | 0.32 |
| 1925 | 442 | #319 | 0.36 |
| 1924 | 479 | #305 | 0.38 |
| 1923 | 455 | #303 | 0.38 |
| 1922 | 463 | #298 | 0.39 |
| 1921 | 541 | #285 | 0.44 |
| 1920 | 483 | #296 | 0.40 |
| 1919 | 515 | #282 | 0.46 |
| 1918 | 460 | #299 | 0.40 |
| 1917 | 288 | #373 | 0.27 |
| 1916 | 287 | #362 | 0.27 |
| 1915 | 269 | #365 | 0.27 |
| 1914 | 206 | #370 | 0.27 |
| 1913 | 165 | #377 | 0.26 |
| 1912 | 117 | #437 | 0.21 |
| 1911 | 96 | #412 | 0.23 |
| 1910 | 106 | #384 | 0.27 |
| 1909 | 81 | #407 | 0.23 |
| 1908 | 76 | #416 | 0.23 |
| 1907 | 55 | #484 | 0.17 |
| 1906 | 84 | #374 | 0.28 |
| 1905 | 60 | #437 | 0.21 |
| 1904 | 58 | #426 | 0.21 |
| 1903 | 54 | #434 | 0.21 |
| 1902 | 56 | #414 | 0.21 |
| 1901 | 52 | #419 | 0.22 |
| 1900 | 64 | #422 | 0.21 |
| 1899 | 51 | #412 | 0.22 |
| 1898 | 39 | #500 | 0.15 |
| 1897 | 37 | #476 | 0.16 |
| 1896 | 31 | #548 | 0.13 |
| 1895 | 29 | #562 | 0.12 |
| 1894 | 22 | #640 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 18 | #708 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 18 | #703 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 25 | #521 | 0.13 |
| 1890 | 10 | #932 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 14 | #719 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 16 | #660 | 0.09 |
| 1887 | 9 | #849 | 0.06 |
| 1886 | 9 | #821 | 0.06 |
| 1885 | 10 | #738 | 0.08 |
| 1884 | 7 | #918 | 0.05 |
| 1883 | 5 | #1,038 | 0.04 |
| 1882 | 11 | #595 | 0.10 |
| 1881 | 6 | #815 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Sybil a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Sybil has been given almost only to girls: 5 boys in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Sybil: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sybil, and how old are they?
8,180 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 40% of the 20,365 Americans ever recorded as Sybil. The median Sybil alive today is 64 years old; half are between 41 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 9,208 people named Sybil (9,185 women and girls, 23 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,982 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,620 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,470 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 523 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 226 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,500 |
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 Sybil born?
The states with the most babies named Sybil are Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, with 29% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,754 | #2,187 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 1,300 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Georgia | 1,245 | #1,194 | 2.1× |
| Louisiana | 1,206 | not ranked | 2.9× |
| Alabama | 1,121 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| New York | 1,115 | #2,046 | 0.7× |
| South Carolina | 975 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Florida | 585 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 574 | #2,074 | 0.5× |
| Mississippi | 552 | not ranked | 1.5× |
Where Sybil is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Sybil is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Sybil 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 5 names spelled alike, given to 25,312 babies since 1880, Sybil is the most given (80% of them). In 2025 it was given to 152 of their 180 babies (84%), 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 Sybil
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Sybil and names like it
- Compare Sybil and SibylBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sSybil peaked in 1921.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sybil since 1910.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Sybil.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Sybil alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.