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Silver

#3,379 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Contraction of Silvester

Silver has been given to 2,277 babies in the U.S. since 1915. In 2025 it ranked #3,379 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 55 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 77% girls, 23% boys all-time.

Babies named Silver, 2025

1 in 72,100

Silver over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Silver over time

In 2025, Silver went to 71% girls and 29% boys.

18962025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Silver: meaning, origin, and history

Contraction of Silvester

English

What Silver means

Silver is a contraction of Silvester.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

As a surname, anglicised from the German Jewish ornamental surname Silber.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Silver (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Silver is used in English and Estonian. Its origins include English.

Silver is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Silvester.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Silver is pronounced /ˈsɪlvɚ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,749 girls were recorded with the name Silver between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 55 in 2023; its best national rank was #2,350 in 1983.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,900 in 2020 to #3,379 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,752 in 2015 to #3,379 in 2025.

In the United States, 528 boys were recorded with the name Silver between 1896 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 23 in 2024; its best national rank was #772 in 1896.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,007 in 2020 to #5,170 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #8,624 in 2015 to #5,170 in 2025.

How common is Silver?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 72,100
46 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 34,900
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,379
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
49,955 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Silver sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 49,955 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Silver. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Silvers were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Silver was born before 1999 — so the typical Silver is around 26 today.

Median birth year
1999
About 26 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
23.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
48.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,533
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 23.7% of all recorded uses (414).

Is Silver rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+6
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+521
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+373
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.12×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
83.6%
Peak was 2023 (55)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,350
1983

Spellings of Silver

Silver is not the most common spelling — Silvia is, with 44.0% against Silver's 3.6%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Silver is used

Across 1910–2025, Silver was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 299,153 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3Michigan1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Ohio1 in —
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Silver has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Silver around the world

Where Silver ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2005–2025
    #4,201
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2019–2019
    #560
    in 2019
  • France
    2018–2020
    #5,894
    in 2020
  • Canada
    1997–2024
    #3,027
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1988–2007
    #803
    in 2007

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Silver by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,379
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 521
Best rank ever
#2,350
1983
Peak year
2023
55 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,749
Count in 2025
46

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,170
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 163
Best rank ever
#772
1896
Peak year
2024
23 that year
First recorded
1896
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
528
Count in 2025
19

Names similar to Silver

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SilvanaOliverKloverDenverSilvieCloverSilviaSilvaDynverSilaRyverSilasForeverEverSylverSilenaSilkaSilahCarverSilvinaRiverSillerSilbiaSiloe

Sibling names for Silver

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Silver

Top names of 2023, Silver's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1983Girls' names starting with S