Sylvia
Sylvia was given to 1,017 girls in 2025, #300 among girls’ names; 245,978 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 129,000 Americans named Sylvia and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (52% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 47 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sylvia by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sylvia mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sylvia is “a female given name from Latin, a popular spelling variant of Silvia.” Its etymology gives the sense “forest” (silva).
Feminine form of a Medieval form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”). In myths, Rhea Silvia was the mother of famous twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 6th-century saint Silvia was the mother of the pope Gregory the Great.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sylvia?
#300 among girls’ names, 2025
Sylvia rose from #484 in 2015 to #300 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.37 to 0.63 per 1,000.
4,389 babies in 1937, the peak
Sylvia peaked in 1937, when 4,389 babies were given it (4,371 girls, #50 among girls’ names). The 1,017 births of 2025 are 23% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,017 | #300 | 0.63 |
| 2024 | 868 | #361 | 0.54 |
| 2023 | 724 | #427 | 0.45 |
| 2022 | 720 | #439 | 0.44 |
| 2021 | 673 | #467 | 0.41 |
| 2020 | 606 | #502 | 0.37 |
| 2019 | 616 | #511 | 0.37 |
| 2018 | 633 | #492 | 0.37 |
| 2017 | 647 | #483 | 0.37 |
| 2016 | 622 | #502 | 0.35 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 662 | #484 | 0.37 |
| 2014 | 638 | #490 | 0.36 |
| 2013 | 594 | #507 | 0.34 |
| 2012 | 578 | #526 | 0.33 |
| 2011 | 531 | #551 | 0.30 |
| 2010 | 525 | #557 | 0.30 |
| 2009 | 555 | #550 | 0.30 |
| 2008 | 556 | #554 | 0.29 |
| 2007 | 588 | #533 | 0.31 |
| 2006 | 581 | #520 | 0.31 |
| 2005 | 547 | #529 | 0.30 |
| 2004 | 513 | #557 | 0.28 |
| 2003 | 504 | #550 | 0.28 |
| 2002 | 535 | #513 | 0.30 |
| 2001 | 519 | #517 | 0.29 |
| 2000 | 542 | #497 | 0.30 |
| 1999 | 539 | #482 | 0.30 |
| 1998 | 553 | #468 | 0.31 |
| 1997 | 518 | #484 | 0.30 |
| 1996 | 553 | #453 | 0.32 |
| 1995 | 589 | #436 | 0.33 |
| 1994 | 593 | #426 | 0.33 |
| 1993 | 685 | #372 | 0.38 |
| 1992 | 711 | #361 | 0.39 |
| 1991 | 831 | #322 | 0.44 |
| 1990 | 818 | #334 | 0.43 |
| 1989 | 799 | #319 | 0.43 |
| 1988 | 856 | #291 | 0.48 |
| 1987 | 863 | #285 | 0.50 |
| 1986 | 879 | #280 | 0.51 |
| 1985 | 931 | #271 | 0.54 |
| 1984 | 1,003 | #248 | 0.60 |
| 1983 | 1,038 | #238 | 0.62 |
| 1982 | 984 | #254 | 0.58 |
| 1981 | 1,008 | #247 | 0.60 |
| 1980 | 962 | #264 | 0.58 |
| 1979 | 1,016 | #247 | 0.63 |
| 1978 | 947 | #252 | 0.62 |
| 1977 | 982 | #255 | 0.64 |
| 1976 | 1,057 | #228 | 0.72 |
| 1975 | 1,143 | #215 | 0.78 |
| 1974 | 1,353 | #189 | 0.92 |
| 1973 | 1,347 | #193 | 0.92 |
| 1972 | 1,465 | #194 | 1.0 |
| 1971 | 1,577 | #194 | 0.95 |
| 1970 | 1,727 | #189 | 1.0 |
| 1969 | 1,814 | #178 | 1.1 |
| 1968 | 1,963 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 1967 | 2,214 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 1966 | 2,411 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1965 | 2,960 | #131 | 1.7 |
| 1964 | 2,945 | #137 | 1.6 |
| 1963 | 3,280 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1962 | 3,458 | #131 | 1.8 |
| 1961 | 3,752 | #124 | 1.9 |
| 1960 | 3,824 | #121 | 1.9 |
| 1959 | 3,853 | #120 | 1.9 |
| 1958 | 4,156 | #114 | 2.1 |
| 1957 | 4,310 | #109 | 2.1 |
| 1956 | 4,145 | #108 | 2.1 |
| 1955 | 4,003 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1954 | 4,083 | #101 | 2.1 |
| 1953 | 3,812 | #101 | 2.0 |
| 1952 | 3,789 | #99 | 2.0 |
| 1951 | 3,777 | #97 | 2.1 |
| 1950 | 3,612 | #97 | 2.1 |
| 1949 | 3,816 | #94 | 2.2 |
| 1948 | 3,671 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1947 | 4,100 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1946 | 4,093 | #82 | 2.6 |
| 1945 | 3,375 | #83 | 2.6 |
| 1944 | 3,292 | #83 | 2.5 |
| 1943 | 3,623 | #77 | 2.6 |
| 1942 | 3,728 | #72 | 2.8 |
| 1941 | 3,788 | #65 | 3.1 |
| 1940 | 3,802 | #62 | 3.3 |
| 1939 | 3,870 | #62 | 3.5 |
| 1938 | 4,259 | #56 | 3.9 |
| 1937 | 4,371 | #50 | 4.1 |
| 1936 | 4,156 | #53 | 4.0 |
| 1935 | 3,620 | #60 | 3.5 |
| 1934 | 3,475 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 1933 | 2,935 | #84 | 2.9 |
| 1932 | 2,568 | #96 | 2.4 |
| 1931 | 1,927 | #123 | 1.8 |
| 1930 | 1,830 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1929 | 2,037 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1928 | 2,222 | #119 | 1.9 |
| 1927 | 2,347 | #116 | 2.0 |
| 1926 | 2,528 | #107 | 2.1 |
| 1925 | 2,537 | #106 | 2.1 |
| 1924 | 2,757 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1923 | 2,838 | #98 | 2.4 |
| 1922 | 2,961 | #94 | 2.5 |
| 1921 | 3,297 | #88 | 2.7 |
| 1920 | 3,317 | #85 | 2.8 |
| 1919 | 3,412 | #77 | 3.0 |
| 1918 | 3,675 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1917 | 3,469 | #69 | 3.2 |
| 1916 | 3,414 | #69 | 3.3 |
| 1915 | 3,284 | #67 | 3.3 |
| 1914 | 2,565 | #70 | 3.4 |
| 1913 | 2,013 | #72 | 3.2 |
| 1912 | 1,639 | #77 | 2.9 |
| 1911 | 1,184 | #82 | 2.8 |
| 1910 | 1,000 | #92 | 2.5 |
| 1909 | 847 | #93 | 2.4 |
| 1908 | 748 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1907 | 611 | #109 | 1.9 |
| 1906 | 617 | #107 | 2.1 |
| 1905 | 528 | #120 | 1.8 |
| 1904 | 497 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1903 | 464 | #120 | 1.8 |
| 1902 | 411 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 1901 | 390 | #129 | 1.6 |
| 1900 | 446 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1899 | 371 | #130 | 1.6 |
| 1898 | 391 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1897 | 357 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 1896 | 340 | #140 | 1.4 |
| 1895 | 276 | #157 | 1.2 |
| 1894 | 288 | #153 | 1.3 |
| 1893 | 286 | #144 | 1.3 |
| 1892 | 275 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1891 | 218 | #156 | 1.2 |
| 1890 | 223 | #158 | 1.2 |
| 1889 | 166 | #178 | 0.93 |
| 1888 | 166 | #174 | 0.93 |
| 1887 | 135 | #173 | 0.92 |
| 1886 | 137 | #167 | 0.95 |
| 1885 | 112 | #173 | 0.84 |
| 1884 | 87 | #199 | 0.67 |
| 1883 | 79 | #192 | 0.70 |
| 1882 | 79 | #179 | 0.73 |
| 1881 | 67 | #187 | 0.73 |
| 1880 | 81 | #162 | 0.89 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Sylvia a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Sylvia has been given almost only to girls: 908 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Sylvia: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sylvia, and how old are they?
129,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 52% of the 245,978 Americans ever recorded as Sylvia. The median Sylvia alive today is 65 years old; half are between 47 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 152,900 people named Sylvia (152,676 women and girls, 224 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 142,633 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 19,100 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 56,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 23,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 12,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,590 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 8,970 |
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 Sylvia born?
The states with the most babies named Sylvia are Texas, New York and California, with 33% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 28,051 | #711 | 1.9× |
| New York | 27,741 | #341 | 1.4× |
| California | 20,991 | #697 | 1.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 13,022 | #142 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 10,633 | #311 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 9,106 | #379 | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 7,897 | #196 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 6,895 | #188 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 6,071 | #582 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 5,730 | #579 | 0.8× |
Where Sylvia is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Sylvia is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 1.9 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 Sylvia 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 278,712 babies since 1880, Sylvia is the most given (88% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,017 of their 2,326 babies (44%), the second most given that year.
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 Sylvia
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 Sylvia and names like it
- Compare Sylvia and SilviaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sSylvia peaked in 1937.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sylvia since 1910.
- The top names of 1937The year the most babies were named Sylvia.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Sylvia alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.