Sylvesta
UnisexGirls' nameBoys' nameMeaning not yet documented
Sylvesta has been given to 71 babies in the U.S. since 1903. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1903, with 7 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 63% girls, 37% boys all-time.
Babies named Sylvesta, 1928
1 in 323,000
Sylvesta over time, 1880–2025
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Sylvesta over time
In 1936, Sylvesta went to 0% girls and 100% boys.
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.
How common is Sylvesta?
Sylvesta had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1928, the last year it was published.
- Among all babies, 1928
- 1 in 323,000
- 7 of 2,260,857 births
- Among girls only
- 1 in 165,000
- <0.01% of girls
- Rank, 1928
- Unranked
- Fewer than 5 uses
- Coin-flip room size
- 223,874 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Sylvesta sits on the popularity scale
Chance at least one other child shares the name
If the other children were drawn at random from the 1928 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.
Put another way: gather 223,874 children born in 1928 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sylvesta. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Sylvestas were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Sylvesta was born before 1919 — so the typical Sylvesta is around 106 today.
- Biggest decade
- 1920s
- 46.7% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 84.4%
- A modern name
- Recorded since 1950
- 0
- People you could plausibly meet
1920s — 46.7% of all recorded uses (21).
Is Sylvesta 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
- —
- Not ranked then
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- New entry
- Not ranked then
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- —
- Not ranked then
- Births vs 10 years ago
- —
- Not published both years
- Share of its own peak
- 0%
- Peak was 1903 (7)
- Years since peak
- 122
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Very steady
- 0% average annual change
Spellings of Sylvesta
Sylvesta is not the most common spelling — Sylvester is, with 93.3% against Sylvesta's 6.7%.
- Sylvester93.3%627
- Sylvesta6.7%45
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.
Sylvesta by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a girl's name
Names similar to Sylvesta
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Sibling names for Sylvesta
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.