Find out how popular the last name Sylla is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Sylla.

Sylla, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Sylla surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sylla in America

Sylla is the 18184th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sylla surname appeared 1,530 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Sylla.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sylla to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Sylla

The surname Sylla originated in Italy during the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the ancient Roman name Sulla, which was a cognomen (nickname) of the Patrician Gemina family. The name Sulla has its roots in the Oscan language, spoken by the Samnites in southern Italy, and may be related to the word 'sullus' meaning 'dark' or 'swarthy'.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sylla can be found in the historical figure Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, a Roman dictator and general who lived from 138 BC to 78 BC. He played a pivotal role in the Roman Republic's transformation into the Roman Empire. His cognomen 'Felix' means 'the lucky one' in Latin.

Another notable bearer of the name Sylla was the Byzantine historian and politician Nicephorus Bryennius, who lived in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. His work 'Material for History' is a valuable source for the history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.

In the 15th century, a family from the town of Montalcino in Tuscany, Italy, adopted the surname Sylla. This family produced several notable individuals, including the philosopher and theologian Carlo Sylla (1490-1558) and the Renaissance humanist and poet Paolo Sylla (1521-1589).

During the 16th century, the name Sylla was also found in France, with the French dramatist and poet Robert Garnier (1545-1590) using the pseudonym 'Sylla' for some of his works.

In the 19th century, the Italian composer and pianist Giovanni Battista Sylla (1815-1892) gained recognition for his operas and piano compositions, while the French painter and illustrator Émile Sylla (1839-1896) is known for his paintings depicting scenes from Provence and Paris.

It is worth noting that the surname Sylla has been spelled in various ways throughout history, including Silla, Syla, and Sylla. Additionally, the name has been associated with certain place names, such as the town of Silla in the province of Massa-Carrara, Italy, and the Silla mountain range in northern Portugal.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sylla

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Sylla.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Sylla was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Sylla has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Sylla was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Sylla, please contact us.

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