Silvester
Masculine · “Of the woods”
Silvester is the older spelling and Sylvester is the newer one, which is the reverse of what most people assume. The i is Latin and original; the y was put in later by scribes who thought a name this grand ought to look Greek.
How old is the name Silvester?
Silvester first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Silvester alive today was born around 1952, making them about 73 years old. About 700 people named Silvester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Silvester most popular?
Silvester peaked in 1884, reaching #764 nationally. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From silva to Silvester
The story of Silvester
The y arrived in the Middle Ages. Latin used i where Greek used upsilon, and medieval scribes, working in a world where Greek learning carried enormous prestige, began writing y into Latin words that had never had one, on the assumption that a distinguished word must have a distinguished origin. Silva became sylva, silvester became Sylvester, and the mistaken spelling won so completely that the correct one now looks like an error. The name itself belongs to a pope who died on the last day of the year, and that date has had a strange afterlife: across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Israel, New Year's Eve is not called New Year's Eve at all. It is called Silvester, and millions of people say the name every December without knowing it is one.
Meaning
Of the woods
Latin silva is a wood or forest, and silvester is the adjective from it: wooded, rural, belonging to the trees. It was a real Roman name and it kept its transparent meaning throughout, which is unusual. The related English words are sylvan and the botanical term silviculture, and the split between the i and the y runs through those too, for exactly the same reason it runs through the name.
How the name formed
- silva
- silvester
- Silvester
Related forms: Silvester · Sylwester · Silvestr · Silvestro · Silvestre · Szilveszter
Pronouncing Silvester
sil-VES-ter
Three syllables with the stress in the middle, said identically to the commoner spelling. German and Polish speakers put the stress in the same place; Italian and Spanish move it to the last syllable of their own forms.
Nicknames for Silvester
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
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 192331 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #764reached in 1884
- Change vs 2010
- +20.0%6 in 2023, from 5
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.
Silvester in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Silvester in German — same name
- Sylwester in Polish — same name
- Silvestr in Czech — same name
- Silvestro in Italian — same name
- Silvestre in Spanish — same name
- Szilveszter in Hungarian — same name
Silvesters among us
people named Silvester are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Silvester sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- A transparent meaning that has survived unchanged for two thousand years and needs no explaining.
- It is at home in German, Polish, Czech, Italian, Spanish and Hungarian without alteration.
- Long and formal on paper with several very different short forms available underneath.
- The y spelling is now standard in English, so this version will be read as a mistake by people trying to help.
- One American film actor owns the short form Sly completely, and the association is inescapable.
- There is also a cartoon cat, which every child in an English-speaking classroom will get to before the pope.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Silvester 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 Silvester? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Silvester
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Silvesters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Silvester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Silvester in 2025?
- Silvester is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Silvester with classmates?
- Silvester will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Steven#271 · Stephen#383 · Samuel#18 · Scott#534 · Sean#489 · Shawn#681 · Stanley#863 · Steve#1609
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Silvester? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Silvester 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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle