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Sylvan

#1,674 in 2025Boys' name

Wood, forest

Sylvan has been given to 3,813 babies in the U.S. since 1886. In 2025 it ranked #1,674 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1918, with 103 recorded.

Babies named Sylvan, 2025

1 in 33,500

Sylvan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sylvan: meaning, origin, and history

Wood, forest

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sylvan means

Sylvan means “wood, forest”.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Sylvan → Silvanus. The family’s meaning is “forest”, recorded in English with the source elements silva.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Silvanus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,684 boys were recorded with the name Sylvan between 1886 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 103 in 1918; its best national rank was #555 in 1912.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,750 in 2020 to #1,674 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,158 in 2015 to #1,674 in 2025.

In the United States, 129 girls were recorded with the name Sylvan between 1993 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 15 in 2024; its best national rank was #7,554 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,320 in 2020 to #8,809 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #12,879 in 2015 to #8,809 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Sylvan?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 33,500
99 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 17,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,674
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
23,212 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Sylvan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 5001%

Put another way: gather 23,212 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sylvan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sylvans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sylvan was born before 1942 — so the typical Sylvan is around 83 today.

Median birth year
1942
About 83 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
17.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
26.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,642
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 17.9% of all recorded uses (660).

Is Sylvan 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
+227
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,076
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,484
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
3.96×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
96.1%
Peak was 1918 (103)
Years since peak
107
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#555
1912

Spellings of Sylvan

Sylvan is not the most common spelling — Dylan is, with 82.1% against Sylvan's 0.72%.

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 Sylvan is used

Across 2016–2025, Sylvan was most concentrated in Pennsylvania — about 1 in 7,143 boys, against 1 in 32,917 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

114 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Pennsylvania1 in 7,143
  2. 2Colorado1 in 25,000
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in 25,000
  4. 4California1 in 33,333
  5. 5New York1 in 33,333
  6. 6Oregon1 in 33,333
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  8. 8Minnesota1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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.

Sylvan around the world

Where Sylvan 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
    1999–2025
    #2,952
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2023–2023
    #728
    in 2023
  • France
    1978–2010
    #4,825
    in 2010
  • Canada
    2000–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1968–1994
    #531
    in 1994

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.

Notable people named Sylvan

People whose public names include Sylvan, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Sylvan in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Sylvan. Linked forms have their own page here.

SilvanSilvanoSylvainSilvanusSylwanSilvainSzilvánusz

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Sylvan by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,674
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,076
Best rank ever
#555
1912
Peak year
1918
103 that year
First recorded
1886
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,684
Count in 2025
99

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#8,809
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 4,511
Best rank ever
#7,554
2024
Peak year
2024
15 that year
First recorded
1993
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
129
Count in 2025
12

Names similar to Sylvan

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

StevanSylasSylusSylisJavanSylarSylerTrevanSylviaCavanDonavanEstevanJovanNevanDonivanJeevanRevanYuvanNirvanKevanDevanGavanSylvioKavan

Names with a curve like Sylvan

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Sylvan, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

IgnatiusGoldenOswaldJuneSilvioFlorianWellingtonJenningsHendersonArleyJudgeFerris

Sibling names for Sylvan

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 Sylvan

Top names of 1918, Sylvan's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1912Boys' names starting with STree Names for Boys