Sylvan
Derived from the Latin word "silva", meaning woodlands or forests.
Name Census estimates that about 1,825 living Americans carry the first name Sylvan. It is a predominantly male name (96.8% of registrations). The average person named Sylvan today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sylvan births was 1918 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sylvan. 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 Sylvan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Sylvan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 117 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 187,811 Americans
Peak year
1918
103 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,911
Tracked since 1886
Census
Sylvan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,816 people with the first name Sylvan, which placed it at #8,091 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
#8,091
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,816 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sylvan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylvan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Sylvan 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 Sylvan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 1,330
- Black or African American13.5% · 245
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 88
- Two or more races3.8% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Sylvan
Sylvan leans heavily male at 96.8% of total registrations, but 117 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sylvan as a male name
- Ranked #1,911 in 2024
- 83 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (103 births)
Sylvan as a female name
- Ranked #7,529 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylvan leans strongly male. 1,595 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 226 female bearers (12.4%).
Popularity
Sylvan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sylvan from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 660 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Sylvan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sylvan 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 Sylvan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sylvans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland recorded the most babies named Sylvan, while South Dakota, Oregon, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sylvan
The name Sylvan has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the word "silva," which means "forest" or "woods." This name emerged during the ancient Roman era and was initially used to refer to deities or spirits associated with the natural world, particularly those believed to inhabit forests and wooded areas.
In ancient Roman mythology, the Silvani were a group of minor deities or forest spirits that were believed to protect and oversee the woodlands. These entities were often depicted as human-like figures with horns and cloven hooves, symbolizing their connection to nature and the wilderness.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sylvan can be found in various Roman texts and inscriptions from the 1st century AD. Some notable examples include the works of the Roman poets Virgil and Ovid, who made references to Silvani and other woodland deities in their writings.
Throughout history, the name Sylvan has been associated with individuals who had a deep appreciation for nature and the outdoors. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Sylvanus, a Roman poet and grammarian who lived in the 4th century AD.
In the Middle Ages, the name Sylvan was relatively uncommon, but it resurged in popularity during the Renaissance period, when there was a renewed interest in classical literature and mythology. One notable bearer of this name was Sylvanus Phillips, an English clergyman and author who lived from 1636 to 1696.
In the 18th century, the name Sylvan gained further prominence with the rise of the Romantic movement, which celebrated the beauty and sublimity of nature. One famous individual with this name was Sylvain Maréchal, a French philosopher and writer who lived from 1750 to 1803 and was known for his works on atheism and materialism.
In the 19th century, the name Sylvan was particularly popular among artists and writers who drew inspiration from the natural world. One such individual was Sylvan Boxsius, a Belgian painter who lived from 1839 to 1904 and was renowned for his landscape paintings depicting the forests and countryside of Belgium.
Another notable bearer of the name Sylvan was Sylvan Tomkins, an American psychologist and philosopher who lived from 1911 to 1991. He was best known for his work on the theory of emotion and his contributions to the field of affective science.
People
Sylvan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sylvan 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
Sylvan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sylvan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sylvan 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 187,811 US residents.
Is Sylvan a common name?
We classify Sylvan as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,701 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sylvan most popular?
The single biggest year for Sylvan was 1918, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sylvan is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sylvan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,816 people with the name Sylvan, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,091 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 Sylvan 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 Sylvan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylvan leans strongly male. 1,595 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 226 female bearers (12.4%). 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 Sylvan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylvan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Sylvan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sylvan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (1,330 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 Sylvan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sylvan a male name?
Yes, 96.8% of people registered as Sylvan 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 Sylvan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sylvan 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 Sylvan 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 Sylvan as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Sylvan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.