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
Sylvia through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #161 among girls, with 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, the most in any year.
  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.