Sylvia

Where Sylvia comes from

Feminine form of a Medieval form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”). In myths, Rhea Silvia was the mother of famous twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 6th-century saint Silvia was the mother of the pope Gregory the Great.
— Wiktionary's entry for Sylvia
  • Latin
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #161 among girls — 81 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1932
    Sylvia Plath born
    American poet and writer
  3. 1935
    Sylvia A. Earle born
    American oceanographer
  4. 1937
    Peak, #50
    4,371 babies named Sylvia — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1968
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #164.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin, a popular spelling variant of Silvia.
Namesakes
  • Sylvia Plath · American poet and writer, 1932–1963
  • Sylvia A. Earle · American oceanographer, born 1935
  • Sylvia Sidney · American actress, 1910–1999
  • Sylvia Pankhurst · English feminist and socialist, 1882–1960
  • Sylvia Hoeks · Dutch actress, born 1983

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.