Silvestre
Of Latin origin meaning "belonging to the woods or forest".
Name Census estimates that about 1,991 living Americans carry the first name Silvestre. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Silvestre today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Silvestre births was 1994 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Silvestre. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 172,152 Americans
Peak year
1994
60 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,608
Tracked since 1912
Census
Silvestre in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,971 people with the first name Silvestre, which placed it at #3,929 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
#3,929
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,971 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Silvestre
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Silvestre is Hispanic at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%) and White (2.5%). 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 Silvestre 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 Silvestre at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.3% · 4,638
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 169
- White2.5% · 122
- Black or African American0.7% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
- Two or more races0.1% · 3
Popularity
Silvestre: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Silvestre from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 506 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Silvestre 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 Silvestre during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Silvestres live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Silvestre, while New York, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 311 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Silvestre
The name Silvestre has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin words "silva" meaning "forest" and "terrestre" meaning "of the earth." The name is believed to have originated in ancient Rome during the early centuries of the Common Era.
The name Silvestre was initially used to refer to individuals who lived in or near forested areas or had a strong connection with nature. It may have been given to those who worked as foresters, woodsmen, or lived in rural, heavily wooded regions.
Historically, the name Silvestre has been recorded in various ancient Roman documents and texts. It is mentioned in some early Christian writings, though it does not appear to have any specific religious significance.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Silvestre was a Roman senator named Silvestre Quintilianus, who lived during the 3rd century AD. Another notable figure was Saint Silvestre I, who served as Pope from 314 to 335 AD and is remembered for establishing the Roman liturgical calendar.
During the Middle Ages, the name Silvestre remained in use, primarily in regions with strong Latin cultural influences, such as parts of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In the 12th century, a French knight named Silvestre de Sacy participated in the Third Crusade and was known for his bravery in battle.
In the 16th century, a Spanish explorer and conquistador named Silvestre Velázquez de Cuéllar played a role in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés. He is recorded as one of the first Europeans to encounter and document the ancient city of Tulum on the Yucatán Peninsula.
During the Renaissance period, the Italian painter and architect Silvestre Revelio (1500-1575) gained recognition for his frescoes and architectural designs in Rome and other Italian cities.
Another noteworthy figure was Silvestre de Sousa (1572-1642), a Portuguese soldier and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Portuguese India and played a significant role in the expansion of Portuguese influence in the region.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Silvestre, reflecting its long-standing use and diverse cultural origins.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Silvestre
People
Silvestre + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Silvestre 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
Silvestre: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Silvestre?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,991 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Silvestre 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 172,152 US residents.
Is Silvestre a common name?
We classify Silvestre as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,437 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Silvestre most popular?
The single biggest year for Silvestre was 1994, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Silvestre is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Silvestre in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,971 people with the name Silvestre, or 1.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,929 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 Silvestre 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 Silvestre?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Silvestre leans strongly male. 4,903 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 64 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Silvestre?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Silvestre is Hispanic at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%) and White (2.5%). 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 Silvestre most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Silvestre in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (4,638 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 Silvestre in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Silvestre a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Silvestre 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 Silvestre still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Silvestre 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 Silvestre 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 Americans are named Silvestre?
See how many people share the name Silvestre on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.