Silvan
Of Latin origin, meaning "of the woods" or "forest dweller".
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Silvan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Silvan today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Silvan births was 2024 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Silvan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Silvan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Silvan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
2024
11 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,641
Tracked since 1926
Census
Silvan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 242 people with the first name Silvan, which placed it at #33,953 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,953
National first-name rank
People counted
242
242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Silvan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Silvan is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Silvan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Silvan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.5% · 132
- Black or African American15.7% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino14.9% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 15
- Two or more races5.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 8
Popularity
Silvan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Silvan from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 37 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Silvan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Silvan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Silvan
The name Silvan has its roots in Latin, originating from the word "silva" which means "forest" or "woods." It was initially used as a descriptive term to refer to someone who lived in or near a forested area. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the Roman era, where it was a relatively common name among the rural population.
During the Middle Ages, the name Silvan gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with significant woodland areas. It was often associated with occupations related to forestry, such as woodsmen, foresters, or hunters. The name also carried a sense of connection with nature and the outdoors.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Silvan was a 6th-century Frankish abbot and saint, known as Saint Silvan of Auchy. He is venerated in the Catholic Church for his piety and dedication to monastic life. Another notable figure was Silvan, a 7th-century Byzantine monk and theologian who played a significant role in the Monothelite controversy.
In the 11th century, Silvan of Reims was a renowned French scholar and teacher who served as the chancellor of the Cathedral School of Reims. His writings on grammar and rhetoric were highly influential during his time.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Silvan Edelbach (1517-1554) was a German Protestant reformer and theologian who worked alongside Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. He played a crucial role in the spread of the Reformation in Germany.
Another historical figure with the name Silvan was Silvan Joubert (1528-1581), a French physician and philosopher. He is best known for his work "Traité du Ris" (Treatise on Laughter), which explored the physiological and psychological aspects of laughter.
Throughout history, the name Silvan has been associated with individuals who had a close connection with nature, whether through their occupations, religious beliefs, or intellectual pursuits. While it may not be as commonly used today, the name still carries a sense of simplicity, earthiness, and a reverence for the natural world.
People
Silvan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Silvan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Silvan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Silvan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Silvan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Silvan a common name?
We classify Silvan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Silvan most popular?
The single biggest year for Silvan was 2024, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Silvan is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Silvan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 242 people with the name Silvan, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,953 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Silvan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Silvan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Silvan leans strongly male. 214 people counted with this name were male (89.9%), compared with 24 female bearers (10.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Silvan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Silvan is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (15.7%) and Hispanic (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Silvan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Silvan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.5% (132 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Silvan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Silvan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Silvan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Silvan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Silvan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Silvan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Silvan?
Find out how many Americans are named Silvan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.