Sybil

Where Sybil comes from

The dictionaries list Sybil as a given name — a female given name from Ancient Greek, the most popular spelling variant of Sibyl since the 19th century — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Ancient Greek
Along the way
  1. 1881
    First appearance
    #740 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1903
    Sybil Bauer born
    American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder
  3. 1919
    Peak, #282
    515 babies named Sybil — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1944
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #454.
  5. 1952
    Sybil Danning born
    Austrian actress
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek, the most popular spelling variant of Sibyl since the 19th century.
Namesakes
  • Sybil Danning · Austrian actress, born 1952
  • Sybil Bauer · American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder, 1903–1927
  • Sybil Thorndike · British actress, 1882–1976
  • Sybil Ludington · American revolutionary heroine, 1761–1839
  • Sybil Seely · American actress, 1902–1984

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.