Sylvester
Feminine · “Of the woods”
Sylvester is given to boys far more often — 43,230 boys against 627 girls since 1880. See Sylvester as a boy name
Sylvester is the Latin 'of the woods', a name with popes and saints behind it and, in America, a preacher of plain food and a cartoon cat in front. It has three solid syllables and a long, unbroken record.
How old is the name Sylvester?
Sylvester first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Sylvester alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 200 people named Sylvester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sylvester most popular?
Sylvester peaked in 1904, reaching #1092 nationally. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From silva to Sylvester
The story of Sylvester
Sylvester came into Christian use through a fourth-century pope and was well established in America before records began. In the 1830s the Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham preached a strict vegetarian diet built on coarse, unsifted wheat flour, and the cracker named after him outlived almost everything else he taught. In 1945 Warner Bros. introduced Sylvester the Cat, voiced by Mel Blanc with a sloppy lisp and a habit of saying 'Sufferin' succotash!', forever chasing Tweety Bird. The spelling is recorded almost entirely for boys.
Meaning
Of the woods
From Latin silvester, 'of the forest', from silva, 'wood, forest'.
How the name formed
- silva
- silvester
- Silvester
- Sylvester
Related forms: Silvester · Silvestro · Silvestre · Sylvestre · Sylwester
Pronouncing Sylvester
sil-VES-ter
Three syllables with the stress on the second.
Nicknames for Sylvester
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
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 192627 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1092reached in 1904
- Change vs 1972
- +20.0%6 in 1981, 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.
Sylvester in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Silvester in Latin — same name
- Silvestro in Italian — same name
- Silvestre in Spanish — same name
- Sylvestre in French — same name
- Sylwester in Polish — same name
Sylvesters among us
people named Sylvester 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
Sylvester 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 settled Latin meaning tied to the woods.
- Forms in many European languages.
- Comes with several short forms in real use.
- The cartoon cat is the first association for many children.
- It reads as an older name to many people.
- Sly as a nickname means 'cunning', which some families will avoid.
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Sylvester
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Sylvesters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Sylvester are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sylvester in 2025?
- Sylvester is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Sylvester with classmates?
- Sylvester will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sylvester? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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