Silver
Feminine · “silver”
Silver is given to both — 1,749 girls and 528 boys since 1880. See Silver as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Silver is the English word for the metal, and it is one of the oldest words in the language — Old English seolfor, with relatives across the Germanic and Slavic families and no agreed source beyond them.
How old is the name Silver?
Silver first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Silver alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 1,600 people named Silver are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Silver most popular?
Silver peaked in 1935, reaching #2305 nationally. Today it ranks #3342, 1,037 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Where it comes from
From seolfor to Silver
The story of Silver
The word for silver is one of a small group that Germanic and Slavic share and that no one can trace further back, which suggests it was borrowed from a lost language somewhere in Bronze Age Europe. As a given name it appears in American records from the nineteenth century, alongside Pearl, Ruby and Opal, and again more recently in the modern taste for color and metal words. It is given to girls and boys alike.
Meaning
silver, the metal
From Old English seolfor; the word is shared across Germanic and Balto-Slavic languages, and its ultimate origin is unknown — it may be a borrowing from a language that has otherwise left no trace.
How the name formed
- seolfor
- silver
Related forms: Silber · Zilver
Pronouncing Silver
SIL-ver
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Silver
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 202355 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2305reached in 1935
- Change vs 2023
- −16.4%46 in 2025, from 55
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Silver in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Silber in German — related form
- Zilver in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Silvers among us
people named Silver are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 34,941 born in 2025 was named Silver
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Silver
- #3342
- Silver on the 2025 chart
- #908
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Silver went to 46 girls in 2025, but Sylver is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 52, which makes it the 908th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,434 places above the chart.
- Silver46
- Sylver6
About 1 girl in 30,909 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 34,941 for Silver itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Manuella test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Silver's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Manuella climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Manuella's path sketches the road Silver is walking now.
Silver sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Silver is headed
Silver should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Silver beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Silver in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so no one has to be taught to say or spell it.
- It belongs to a recognized group of metal and gem names with real nineteenth-century history.
- The word itself has a genuinely mysterious origin, which is worth telling.
- It is the name of a metal and of a color, and both associations will be made constantly.
- In the phrase silver medal it means second, which will be joked about.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms will sometimes guess wrong.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Silver to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Silver? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Silver
Feminine · #3342 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Silvers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Silver are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Silver?
- Silver is the most-used spelling in US records — 46 of the 52 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Sylver.
- How popular is the name Silver in 2025?
- Silver ranks #3342 among US girl names in 2025, with 46 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Silver?
- About 1 in every 34,941 US girls born in 2025 was named Silver — 46 in all.
- Will my child share the name Silver with classmates?
- Silver will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Silver
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zorah#3342 · Monique#3342 · Kinleigh#3342 · Emmelyn#3342 · Zyana#3342 · Swara#3342 · Azaleah#3342 · Elenora#3342
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Silver? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Silver and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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