Sylar
A name of unknown origin, potentially derived from syllables meaning "possessor" or "keeper".
Name Census estimates that about 862 living Americans carry the first name Sylar. It is a predominantly male name (93.4% of registrations). The average person named Sylar today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sylar births was 2009 (91 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sylar. 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 Sylar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
862
~ 1 in 397,627 Americans
Peak year
2009
91 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,656
Tracked since 2006
Census
Sylar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 789 people with the first name Sylar, which placed it at #14,812 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
#14,812
National first-name rank
People counted
789
789 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sylar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylar is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.6%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Sylar 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 Sylar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.2% · 522
- Hispanic or Latino14.6% · 115
- Two or more races8.6% · 68
- Black or African American6.2% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Sylar
Sylar leans heavily male at 93.4% of total registrations, but 57 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sylar as a male name
- Ranked #7,656 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (91 births)
Sylar as a female name
- Ranked #17,333 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2011 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylar leans strongly male. 686 people counted with this name were male (87.2%), compared with 101 female bearers (12.8%).
Popularity
Sylar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sylar from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 588 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sylar 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 Sylar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sylars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sylar, while Virginia, Missouri, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sylar
The name Sylar has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages that emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "silaru," which translates to "sky" or "heavens." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with celestial or divine connotations.
Historically, the name Sylar has been recorded in various ancient Mesopotamian texts and inscriptions, including cuneiform tablets and clay cylinders. Some scholars have suggested that it may have been the name of a minor deity or celestial figure in the Sumerian pantheon, though definitive evidence is scarce.
One of the earliest known individuals bearing the name Sylar was a high-ranking priest who lived in the city-state of Uruk around 2500 BC. His name was inscribed on a clay tablet discovered in the ruins of a temple dedicated to the goddess Inanna, indicating his prominent role in the religious and cultural life of the time.
In the 7th century BC, there are records of a Babylonian astronomer named Sylar who made significant contributions to the study of celestial bodies and the development of early astronomical calculations. His work was later referenced and built upon by Greek and Arab scholars during the classical period.
During the medieval era, a Persian poet and philosopher named Sylar al-Din (born in 1120 AD) gained renown for his poetic works and philosophical treatises. His name, which incorporates the Arabic form of Sylar, reflects the cross-cultural influence and spread of the name across various regions and civilizations.
Another notable figure with the name Sylar was a 16th-century Ottoman admiral and naval commander named Sylar Reis (1472-1554). He played a crucial role in the Ottoman Empire's naval campaigns and is credited with leading numerous successful maritime expeditions in the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions.
In the 19th century, a German composer and pianist named Sylar Scharwenka (1850-1924) achieved recognition for his contributions to the Romantic era of classical music. His compositions, particularly his piano works, were highly regarded and performed throughout Europe during his lifetime.
While the name Sylar has not been as widely popular in modern times, it remains a unique and intriguing moniker with a rich historical background rooted in ancient Mesopotamian cultures and their celestial associations.
People
Sylar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sylar 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
Sylar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sylar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 862 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sylar 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 397,627 US residents.
Is Sylar a common name?
We classify Sylar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 869 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sylar most popular?
The single biggest year for Sylar was 2009, when 91 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sylar 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 Sylar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 789 people with the name Sylar, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,812 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 Sylar 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 Sylar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylar leans strongly male. 686 people counted with this name were male (87.2%), compared with 101 female bearers (12.8%). 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 Sylar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylar is White at 66.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.6%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Sylar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sylar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (522 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 Sylar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sylar a male name?
Yes, 93.4% of people registered as Sylar 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 Sylar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sylar 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 Sylar 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 have the name Sylar?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sylar, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.