Sylvana
Origin Hebrew or Forest Dweller, possibly feminine form of Sylvan.
Name Census estimates that about 758 living Americans carry the first name Sylvana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sylvana today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sylvana births was 2008 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sylvana. 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 Sylvana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
758
~ 1 in 452,183 Americans
Peak year
2008
24 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,013
Tracked since 1951
Census
Sylvana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,021 people with the first name Sylvana, which placed it at #12,243 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
#12,243
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,021 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sylvana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylvana is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Sylvana 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 Sylvana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.5% · 434
- White39.1% · 399
- Black or African American11.5% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 49
- Two or more races1.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Popularity
Sylvana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sylvana from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 165 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sylvana 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 Sylvana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sylvanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Arizona, Florida recorded the most babies named Sylvana, while Florida, Arizona, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sylvana
The name Sylvana has its roots in the Latin language, originating from the word "silva" which means "forest" or "wood." It is a feminine form of the masculine name Silvanus, associated with the Roman god of the forests and uncultivated lands.
During the Roman era, the name Silvanus held religious significance, and it was common for families to name their children after various deities or natural elements. The transition from Silvanus to Sylvana likely occurred as the name spread across different regions and languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sylvana can be found in ancient texts from the Byzantine Empire, where it was used as a feminine name among the Greek-speaking population. This suggests that the name had gained popularity and had begun to transcend its Latin origins.
In the medieval period, the name Sylvana appeared in various European regions, including Italy, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. It was often associated with nobility and aristocracy, as many noble families adopted names with connections to nature and the outdoors, reflecting their land holdings and rural lifestyles.
Notable historical figures bearing the name Sylvana include Sylvana de' Medici (1456-1518), a member of the renowned Medici family in Florence, Italy. Another prominent individual was Sylvana de la Cerda (1322-1375), a Spanish noblewoman and the first Countess of Medinaceli.
In the 18th century, Sylvana Gasparina (1708-1776) was an Italian poet and writer who gained recognition for her literary works. Around the same time, Sylvana Simonetta (1723-1794) was an Italian painter and engraver known for her portraits and religious artworks.
In the 19th century, Sylvana Lewars (1824-1886) was a British author and translator, best known for her translations of works by Alexandre Dumas and other French writers. Her contemporaries included Sylvana Caspari (1835-1909), a German-born American philanthropist and social reformer active in New York City.
Throughout its history, the name Sylvana has maintained a strong connection to its Latin roots and associations with nature, forests, and the outdoors. While not as common as some other names, it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds, including nobility, artists, writers, and reformers, across different eras and regions.
People
Sylvana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sylvana 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
Sylvana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sylvana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 758 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sylvana 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 452,183 US residents.
Is Sylvana a common name?
We classify Sylvana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sylvana most popular?
The single biggest year for Sylvana was 2008, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sylvana is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sylvana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,021 people with the name Sylvana, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,243 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 Sylvana 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 Sylvana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylvana appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,023 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sylvana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylvana is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Sylvana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sylvana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.5% (434 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 Sylvana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sylvana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sylvana in the SSA data are female. 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 Sylvana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sylvana 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 Sylvana 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 common is the name Sylvana?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.